Nichols Martin
Kratos Defense and Security Solutions has secured a $23.4M contract to manufacture 34 low rate initial production units of a subsonic aerial target for the U.S. Navy.
The company said Thursday it will supply BQM-177A SATs along with technical data under the sole-source contract from the Naval Air Systems Command.
Contract work will take place in Sacramento, Calif., through March 2021, and funds will come from the service branch's fiscal 2019 weapons procurement account.
"The recapitalization of strategic weapon systems by the U.S. and its allies to address peer-level threats is driving the need for new and additional threat representative target drones to exercise our forces and defensive systems," said Steve Fendley, president of Kratos' unmanned systems division.
BQM-177A is designed to launch at a speed of more than 0.95 Mach and an altitude of at least 10 feet. The target also features payloads for proximity scoring, friend or foe identification, radio frequency augmentation and other electronic functions.
