The agreement covers the joint development, production, testing, and deployment of the GEK800 engine and other low-cost expendable turbofan engines. In addition, both companies have started work on a new propulsion system, the GEK1500, targeting a wide range of unmanned and collaborative combat platforms.
“Kratos’ strategically important Teaming Agreement with GE Aerospace continues to rapidly advance and expand, with the GEK family of engines targeting certain of the most important, mission critical and highest priority needs and requirements of United States National Security,” said Eric DeMarco, President and CEO of Kratos. “At Kratos, affordability is a technology and delivering more capability for less cost as quickly as possible are key contributions we are bringing for truly industry leading GEK offerings with our partner and global leader GE Aerospace.”
Amy Gowder, President and CEO of Defense & Systems at GE Aerospace, stated, “The formalization of this teaming agreement and initiation of development of these new engines mark another step forward in our dedication to providing affordable, adaptable, high-performance propulsion systems for the future force.” She added, “We’re thrilled to continue our collaboration with Kratos and accelerate development across various classes of unmanned systems.”
Kratos contributes over two decades of experience in small, low-cost engine development for drones, UAS, and missile platforms. GE Aerospace brings its long-standing propulsion expertise and production scalability to help transition advanced engine designs from prototypes to operational use.
