Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, a technology company in defense, national security, and global markets, announced that it has been awarded a contract through the Department of War’s Industrial Base Analysis and Sustainment Program to design and build a state-of-the-art mid-tier arc jet and coupled fiber laser facility for hypersonic materials evaluation. Known internally to Kratos as Project Helios, the contract to Kratos for the leading technology facility has a total projected value of $68.3 million.

Once complete, the facility will address current critical gaps in U.S. Defense Industrial Base capabilities by providing essential testing infrastructure for thermal protection systems used in hypersonic vehicles. This capability will complement and enhance the national testing infrastructure, supporting all branches of the U.S. Armed Forces and Department of War and bridging the gap between low-fidelity screening solutions available across both industry and academia and the exquisite, large-scale arc jet facilities at government testing sites. Combining a 20-25 MW arc jet capability with a 200 kW fiber laser system, this innovative facility is expected to dramatically increase opportunities for material evaluation in support of both hypersonic and strategic national defense efforts.

“This new facility will provide a vital capability for advancing hypersonic technology development while alleviating the current testing bottleneck at existing facilities,” said Eric DeMarco, President and CEO of Kratos. “Once the facility is complete, Kratos will offer more cost-effective and readily available testing options, with Kratos also helping accelerate the development of critical defense technologies. Project Helios is a recent example of Kratos’ strategy to make the internal investment and rapidly bring a mission critical capability to the warfighter, while generating multi- year, long term value for all of our stakeholders. The demand for these unique testing capabilities is expected to continue for decades with the need for developing and advancing hypersonic related materials.”

“We are excited to initiate the development of this cutting-edge facility that bridges current testing infrastructure gaps across the nation,” said Dave Carter, President of Kratos Defense and Rocket Support Services Division. “Kratos continues to serve as a cornerstone of affordability, low cost, innovation and readiness in the national defense community. This facility underscores our dedication to proactively address high-priority defense requirements and meeting the technology development needs of each program.”

“The team at Kratos SRE has a history of evaluating high-temperature materials that spans over 80 years,” said Ben Dempsey, Kratos SRE Vice President of Programs. “Our experienced materials experts are excited to collaborate with the highly skilled facility design teams at North Wind and New Horizon 5 to make this new capability available to the defense sector for the evaluation and development of materials in extreme environments.”

Key benefits include:

• Material Development: Serve as a natural bridge for material development, transitioning materials from laboratory experiments to fielded system applications more efficiently.
• Advancement of National Defense: Support critical needs for national defense through a comprehensive testing infrastructure.
• Cost Reduction: Increase throughput while significantly reducing overall program costs.
• Collaboration & Innovation: Demonstrates Kratos’ commitment to addressing high-priority defense requirements and providing long-term value.

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