Kratos Defense and Security Solutions is scheduled to begin production of unmanned aerial vehicles for an unidentified government customer by the end of the third quarter, FlightGlobal reported Tuesday.
Kratos President and CEO Eric DeMarco told audience at the Jefferies 2017 Investor Conference that he expects the “confidential” UAV program to help increase Kratos’ drone business revenues.
DeMarco added the UAV is being built to function in anti-access/area-denied environments at an altitude of up to 45,000 feet.
The unmanned platform is designed to launch from a railed catapult and deploy a parachute to execute recovery, the report noted.
Kratos is competing for other government UAV programs such as the U.S. Air Force‘s Low-Cost, Attritable Strike Unmanned Air System Demonstration and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency‘s Gremlins airborne UAV launch and recovery program, where Kratos participates as Dynetics‘ subcontractor.