The updates came alongside wider announcements across Kratos’ tactical drone, high-speed vehicle and rocket businesses. DeMarco disclosed a $750 million contract win within the past five weeks for a classified programme that the company calls “Poseidon.”
The XQ-58 Valkyrie, an uncrewed aircraft system that first flew six years ago, has seen growing interest worldwide. “We have two new additional Valkyrie opportunities with two different customers, both of which I believe Kratos is currently in a sole source position,” DeMarco said.
Kratos has launched production of a second batch of 24 Valkyries to meet potential demand, with several variants under consideration. “Across the potential increased Valkyrie production run, we would be producing several variants including runway-independent, combined runway-independent/runway-capable, [conventional takeoff and landing], a European-focused variant and potentially two additional variants, all of which are specifically potential customer focused,” DeMarco said.
The U.S. Marine Corps plans to procure a Valkyrie version fitted with tricycle landing gear. Kratos’ earlier decision to build the first batch of 24 aircraft enabled the service to establish a programme of record, with several aircraft already sold to undisclosed customers.
Details of the Icarus hypersonic drone remain limited. In March, DeMarco confirmed only that it could be supported by the Hypersonic System Indiana Payload Integration Facility, which broke ground on 18 March in Crane, Indiana.
Kratos’ hypersonic activities also extend to boosters and projectiles. The Zeus rocket, along with the Erinyes and Dark Fury glide vehicles, are in production as test assets for the US Navy and the Missile Defense Agency.
