Kratos, a technology company serving the defense, national security and global markets, said the investment is part of its effort to strengthen the U.S. defense industrial base. The company said the new capacity is intended to support scalable and efficient production of affordable, mission-ready systems in quantity and at speed.
The company currently produces about 165 high-performance jet drones annually. Kratos said the expanded facility will allow it to further increase production to meet growing demand from the U.S. Department of War and allied customers.
“The future fight demands the ability to rapidly produce affordable, high-performance systems at scale,” said Steve Fendley, President of Kratos Unmanned Systems Division. “This expansion in Oklahoma City reflects our long-term commitment to investing ahead of customer demand and building the industrial capacity needed to support the Department of War’s modernization priorities.”
“As autonomous systems become increasingly central to the future force, manufacturing readiness and producing at scale will be just as important as technology readiness, maybe more.” Fendley said. The expanded site will provide additional manufacturing, assembly, integration and test capacity for multiple Kratos tactical jet aircraft programs.
Production at the facility will support Valkyrie, the affordable, runway-flexible collaborative combat aircraft selected by the U.S. Marine Corps as the foundation of its Collaborative Combat Aircraft program of record. Kratos said Valkyrie is designed to operate alone, in swarms or alongside crewed aircraft while adding mass, reach and mission capability.
The expanded facility will also manufacture the Mighty Hornet IV. Kratos said the system is expected to serve as a key tactical capability supporting Taiwan’s defense requirements, reflecting increased international demand for affordable, high-performance unmanned systems.
The expansion will also support increased production capacity for Kratos’ family of high-performance aerial target systems, including Firejet. The company said Firejet supports realistic operational test, evaluation and weapons training across the U.S. military and allied nations.
Kratos said demand for advanced target capabilities continues to grow. These capabilities include test and training support for missile, radar, air defense, counter-unmanned aircraft systems and directed energy weapon systems, as well as their crews.
The company said it has consistently invested in manufacturing infrastructure, production technologies and workforce development. It said the Oklahoma City expansion is the latest in a series of investments aimed at expanding domestic production capacity and strengthening the resilience of the U.S. defense industrial base.
