Kratos has secured its largest-ever deal from the Pentagon to provide a Multi-Service Advanced Capability Hypersonic Test Bed (MACH-TB) 2.0.
Under the five-year deal, the California tech firm will provide systems engineering, integration, and testing, including integrated subscale, full-scale, and air launch services.
The contract can reach up to $1.45 billion if all options are exercised.
Kratos will lead a team of collaborators, including Leidos, Rocket Lab, Koda Technologies, Corvid Technologies, Northwind, JRC, Stratolaunch, CFD Research, PAR Systems, the University of Minnesota, and Purdue University.
“We are honored to be selected to be part of the MACH-TB 2.0 integrated team,” said Kratos Senior VP Michael Johns, noting how the testbed program addresses the country’s need for “rapid and affordable hypersonic flight testing to quickly develop and field hypersonic technologies.”
Meanwhile, company President and CEO Eric DeMarco commented, “Kratos is honored to receive the largest contract award in our company’s history, a testament of the value Kratos’ employees and team bring both to our Company and United States National Security.”
The San Diego-based company specializes in testing and fielding hypersonic systems, such as the Zeus solid rocket motor and the DART AE scramjet drone.
Hypersonic Program
The US Department of Defense’s MACH-TB program was first launched in 2022 to enhance the country’s hypersonic capabilities across the armed forces, creating a testbed and facilitating flight tests.
Meanwhile, its 2.0 version brings the program a step further by increasing the frequency and affordability of hypersonic flight tests until a full-flight test capacity can be achieved.
However, in July last year, the US Government Accountability Office pointed out the Pentagon’s lack of transparency over the program.
“Years of effort and billions of dollars spent on hypersonic weapon development have yielded considerable progress, but DoD has yet to field its first operational hypersonic weapon system. Yet even fielding these first prototypes will not ensure an effective or affordable capability,” the agency concluded.
Such inefficiencies could put the US at a strategic disadvantage, as rivals like China reportedly fielded hypersonic anti-ship ballistic missiles in 2022 and Russia deployed a similar weapon against Ukraine late last year.
