Kratos ARAV-B target engaged by U.S. Navy in NATO’s largest air and missile defence drill

The ARAV-B target, developed by Kratos, was launched on 20 May 2025 and performed a nominal flight trajectory before interception. This live-fire event was part of a broader multinational exercise hosted by the U.S. 6th Fleet and conducted by Naval Striking and Support Forces NATO.

ASD/FS 25 is the largest integrated air and missile defence (IAMD) exercise in the European theatre and included approximately 6,900 personnel from NATO member states. It featured coordinated actions across sea, land, and air domains against various aerial and surface threats, including subsonic, supersonic, and ballistic missile targets.

“Kratos is immensely proud of our dedicated team of professionals who consistently contribute to the success of events like Formidable Shield for users worldwide,” said Dave Carter, President of the Kratos Defense & Rocket Support Services Division. “Our team continues to deliver affordable, responsive, and reliable threat representative targets to our government customers and their allies.”

Eric DeMarco, President and CEO of Kratos, stated, “At Kratos, we deliver real, mission relevant products and systems to our customers, not powerpoints, renditions or imagination.” He added, “We believe that affordability is a technology, and rather than pay dividends or buy back KTOS stock, we invest Kratos funds to rapidly develop and field National Security relevant hardware, innovating, and also saving our government customer and the U.S. taxpayer time and money compared to traditional approaches.”

Kratos has participated in the Formidable Shield exercises since 2017, providing aerial drone and ballistic missile targets to support NATO’s efforts to improve interoperability and warfighting capabilities. The company’s continued involvement reflects its commitment to delivering cost-effective, mission-ready solutions for integrated defence operations.