Kratos Defense & Security Solutions

Market context

Kratos gives public-market exposure to defense UAVs through target drones, tactical uncrewed aircraft, mission systems and programs such as Valkyrie and other attritable aircraft concepts.

Facts

• Website: https://www.kratosdefense.com/
• HQ: San Diego, CA, United States
• Ticker: KTOS / NASDAQ
• Segment: defense robotics

Commercial

2 commercial events; 2 contract awards; latest event 2026-01-08

• 2026-01-08 - Contract award - Kratos and Northrop Grumman selected for Marine Corps loyal wingman drone program - source: defensescoop.com
• 2025-01-21 - Contract award - Kratos receives $34.8M Valkyrie mission systems integration contract - source: kratosdefense.com

Defense UAV and uncrewed tactical aircraft builder

Kratos develops target drones, high-performance unmanned aerial systems, tactical aircraft and defense mission technologies for military customers.

• Target environment: Defense test ranges, air forces, naval aviation programs, attritable aircraft programs, training systems and contested mission environments.
• Deployment model: Defense contractor model spanning unmanned aircraft products, target drone production, mission systems, contracts and customer-funded programs.
• Customer context: U.S. and allied defense customers, military test organizations, aerospace primes, government agencies and public-market defense investors.
• Workflow context: Target drones, tactical UAVs, attritable aircraft, unmanned aerial systems, propulsion-adjacent systems and mission-support technology.
• Commercial maturity: Listed defense company with direct uncrewed aircraft programs and long-running target drone production.
• Market position: Public-market defense UAV and uncrewed tactical aircraft company.
• Adoption constraints: Adoption depends on defense budgets, program selection, production scale, export approvals, mission performance and competition from major primes.
• Adjacent context: Defense UAV builders, target drones, attritable aircraft, autonomous combat aircraft, mission systems and aerial defense robotics.
• Source confidence: high

Events

• 2026-07-06 - Production Milestone - Kratos expands Oklahoma City jet-drone manufacturing campus - The expansion adds manufacturing, assembly, integration and test capacity. Kratos says the campus currently produces about 165 high-performance jet drones annually. The added capacity supports U.S. and allied demand for tactical jet drones.
• 2026-01-08 - Contract Award - Kratos and Northrop Grumman selected for Marine Corps loyal wingman drone program - Northrop Grumman and Kratos received a $231.5 million deal to deliver the Marine Corps' first loyal wingman drone. The award supports the Marine Air-Ground Task Force Uncrewed Expeditionary Tactical Aircraft program. The program builds on Kratos' XQ-58A Valky…
• 2025-09-23 - Production Milestone - Elroy Air names Kratos exclusive U.S. manufacturer for Chaparral - A five-year strategic manufacturing agreement names Kratos as exclusive U.S. manufacturing partner for the Chaparral cargo drone. The agreement is framed around expected high-volume production of the hybrid-electric autonomous VTOL cargo drone. Initial produc…
• 2025-07-16 - Partnership - Airbus partners with Kratos to supply Valkyrie-based combat drones to Germany - Airbus partnered with Kratos to supply uncrewed combat drones to the German Air Force by 2029. The plan uses Kratos' XQ-58A Valkyrie platform with an Airbus mission system. The partnership creates a transatlantic path for collaborative combat aircraft deploym…
• 2025-01-21 - Contract Award - Kratos receives $34.8M Valkyrie mission systems integration contract - Kratos received a $34.8 million contract for Valkyrie mission systems integration work. The award supports the XQ-58A Valkyrie tactical uncrewed aircraft program. The contract gives the profile a concrete defense UAV procurement milestone rather than only pla…

Team

• Eric DeMarco - President, CEO and Director
• Deanna Lund - Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Director
• Steve Fendley - President, Unmanned Systems Division

Supply chain relationships

• Elroy Air - Exclusive U.s. Manufacturer - Kratos is Elroy Air?s exclusive U.S. manufacturing partner for the Chaparral VTOL cargo drone under a five-year agreement.

Context tags

• Defence UAV builder - Peer Group
• Defence UAV OEM - Stack Layer
• Aerial defence platform builder - Peer Group

Customers and deployments

• Contract Value Usd - $231.5 million loyal-wingman drone deal - 2026-01-08 - U.S. Marine Corps - loyal wingman drone program - Kratos and Northrop Grumman received a $231.5 million deal to deliver the Marine Corps first…
• Commercial Rollout - $34.8 million Valkyrie mission-systems integration contract - 2025-01-21 - U.S. defense customer - United States - Kratos received a $34.8 million contract for Valkyrie mission-systems integration w…