GE Aerospace and Kratos Partner on Small Affordable Engines
Agreement covers development and production of small affordable engines for possible use in unmanned aerial systems, collaborative combat aircraft, and similar applications
FARNBOROUGH, United Kingdom, July 22, 2024 (GLOBE
NEWSWIRE) -- Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (Nasdaq: KTOS),
a technology company in Defense, National Security and Global Markets,
today announced that GE Aerospace (NYSE:GE) and Kratos Turbine
Technologies, a division of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions,
Inc., signed a Memorandum of Understanding to partner on
the development and production of small affordable engines that could
potentially power unmanned aerial systems (UAS), collaborative combat
aircraft, and similar applications.
The agreement, once finalized, will replace an existing joint development agreement and includes full-scale engine production. For the last year, GE Aerospace and Kratos have been working together on a small affordable engine. The engine initially was developed and ground tested by Kratos. Under the existing joint agreement, GE Aerospace and Kratos completed additional development efforts and are now conducting tests on the engine. The team plans to continue development on the current engine, which will undergo altitude testing next year at GE Aerospace’s test cell in Evendale, Ohio.
Amy Gowder, President and CEO, Defense & Systems at GE Aerospace said, “Our defense customers have a growing interest in small affordable engines to meet their evolving mission requirements. Our initial collaboration has been very successful, and this agreement furthers our efforts in this new dynamic military segment.”
Eric DeMarco, President & CEO of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc., said, “Kratos has made significant investments in the development of our family of small, low-cost jet engines for jet powered drones, missiles, and powered munitions that lead in technology and capability. We consider our relationship with GE Aerospace as invaluable based on our expectation and forecast for the potential future production of thousands of turbofan engines for multiple customers.”
Each company brings unique expertise to the partnership. Kratos has more than 20 years of experience in the development and production of small affordable jet engines for UAS, drones, and missiles. GE Aerospace has more than 100 years of experience in the development and scaling up of high-volume production for jet engine programs for a seamless transition from development to production.
About GE Aerospace
GE Aerospace
(NYSE: GE) is a global aerospace propulsion, services, and systems leader
with an installed base of approximately 44,000 commercial and 26,000
military aircraft engines. With a global team of 52,000 employees building
on more than a century of innovation and learning, GE Aerospace is
committed to inventing the future of flight, lifting people up, and
bringing them home safely. Learn more about how GE Aerospace and its
partners are defining flight for today, tomorrow and the future at www.geaerospace.com.
About Kratos Defense & Security
Solutions
Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc.
(NASDAQ: KTOS) is a technology, products, system and software company
addressing the defense, national security, and commercial markets. Kratos
makes true internally funded research, development, capital and other
investments, to rapidly develop, produce and field solutions that address
our customers’ mission critical needs and requirements. At Kratos,
affordability is a technology, and we seek to utilize proven, leading edge
approaches and technology, not unproven bleeding edge approaches or
technology, with Kratos’ approach designed to reduce cost, schedule and
risk, enabling us to be first to market with cost effective solutions. We
believe that Kratos is known as an innovative disruptive change agent in
the industry, a company that is an expert in designing products and systems
up front for successful rapid, large quantity, low cost future
manufacturing which is a value add competitive differentiator for our large
traditional prime system integrator partners and also to our government and
commercial customers. Kratos intends to pursue program and contract
opportunities as the prime or lead contractor when we believe that our
probability of win (PWin) is high and any investment required by Kratos is
within our capital resource comfort level. We intend to partner and team
with a large, traditional system integrator when our assessment of PWin is
greater or required investment is beyond Kratos’ comfort level. Kratos’
primary business areas include virtualized ground systems for satellites
and space vehicles including software for command & control (C2) and
telemetry, tracking and control (TT&C), jet powered unmanned aerial
drone systems, hypersonic vehicles and rocket systems, propulsion systems
for drones, missiles, loitering munitions, supersonic systems, space craft
and launch systems, C5ISR and microwave electronic products for missile,
radar, missile defense, space, satellite, counter UAS, directed energy,
communication and other systems, and virtual & augmented reality
training systems for the warfighter. For more information, visit www.KratosDefense.com.
Notice Regarding Forward-Looking
Statements
Certain statements in this press release may
constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements
are made on the basis of the current beliefs, expectations and assumptions
of the management of Kratos and are subject to significant risks and
uncertainty. Investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance on any
such forward-looking statements. All such forward-looking statements speak
only as of the date they are made, and Kratos undertakes no obligation to
update or revise these statements, whether as a result of new information,
future events or otherwise. Although Kratos believes that the expectations
reflected in these forward-looking statements are reasonable, these
statements involve many risks and uncertainties that may cause actual
results to differ materially from what may be expressed or implied in these
forward-looking statements. For a further discussion of risks and
uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ from those
expressed in these forward-looking statements, as well as risks relating to
the business of Kratos in general, see the risk disclosures in the Annual
Report on Form 10-K of Kratos for the year ended December 31, 2023, and in
subsequent reports on Forms 10-Q and 8-K and other filings made with the
SEC by Kratos.
Press Contact:
Claire Burghoff
+1 (314) 210-1287
claire.burghoff@kratosdefense.com
Deb Case
+1.513.4181644
deborah.case@ge.com
Investor Information:
877-934-4687
investor@kratosdefense.com
