A subsidiary of aerospace defense contractor Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Inc. won a $22.9 million contract modification for engineering support for its jet-powered, unmanned tactical aircraft from the Navy.
The work will be performed at Kratos (Nasdaq: KTOS) locations in Sacramento, according to a report from Zacks Investment Research.
“We’re pretty excited about it,” Steve Fendley, president of Kratos Unmanned Systems Division, told the Business Journal.
Kratos Unmanned has about 700 employees locally off Raley Boulevard in Sacramento County, at McClellan Park and an engineering division in Roseville.
The work will be related to supporting systems on the XQ-58A Valkyrie aircraft, which is in testing with the Air Force, Navy and Marines.
In 2019, Kratos for the first time flew its then-experimental XQ-58 Valkyrie, a stealth, unmanned combat aerial vehicle it developed for a program in the U.S. Air Force Laboratory. That program was seeking low-cost, unmanned escort combat aircraft.
The Valkyrie is a remote-controlled plane that can be flown by a ground controller, or it can be flown by the pilot or navigator in a fighter jet, where the Valkyrie serves as a reconnaissance craft or wingman for the fighter.
Launched as an experimental aircraft, the Valkyrie is now in advanced testing by the military, where it is flown by the Air Force and Navy. In October, the Marine Corps completed its first program flights in Florida with its version of the Valkyrie. Ongoing tests will continue for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance uses, Fendley said. It is designed to also be used in swarms, according to Kratos.
The Valkyrie aircraft is manufactured at a Kratos factory in Oklahoma City, but its systems, subsystems and mission kits are engineered in the Sacramento area, Fendley said.
For years, Kratos has manufactured jet-powered target drones for the military to practice shooting down incoming planes and missiles in live-fire exercises. The Valkyrie, in contract, is designed as a subsonic surveillance tool and potential offensive weapon. It can carry multiple weapons configurations and a mix of lethal weapons from its internal bomb bay and wing stations. It has the potential to use artificial intelligence-enabled platforms for air patrol missions.
The aircraft has moved from being experimental to being tested, Fendley said, and it is now being evaluated by the military for its mission systems.
Separately, Kratos is also working with Reston, Virginia-based defense contractor Leidos Holdings Inc. on the Air Force's Mayhem Hypersonic Missile Program, which flies faster than Mach 5, or faster than 3,800 miles per hour. Leidos (NYSE: LDOS) won the $334 million contract in December 2022.
