Kratos Orders 9 Zeus 1 and Zeus 2 Rocket Motors in Preparation for Initial Customer Funded Flights

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (Nasdaq: KTOS), a Technology Company in Defense, National Security and Global Markets announced today that its Space & Missile Defense (SMDS) business unit has ordered a combined total of nine new Zeus 1 and Zeus 2 rocket motors in preparation for upcoming initial customer funded flights. The Kratos developed Zeus family of Solid Rocket Motors (SRMs) is in direct response to the urgent need for affordable commercial launch vehicle stages for hypersonic test, ballistic missile target, sounding rocket and “other” customer missions.  SMDS applied its significant experience to establish the Zeus 1 and Zeus 2 motor requirements and specifications in close coordination with respective customer and user communities. Kratos, through internal investments, funded development of the Zeus SRMs which are designed and manufactured to Kratos’ specifications by key merchant supplier and partner, Aerojet Rocketdyne.

The Kratos Zeus 1 and Zeus 2 SRMs provide substantial performance improvements over similar legacy and heritage SRMs within the same relevant form factor, allowing existing vehicle designs and launch infrastructure to remain unchanged while also promoting rapid integration of leading technology systems and payloads, including those currently under development by Kratos. These and other key attributes will provide Kratos’ customers opportunities to fly more often, faster and farther, using fewer stages, at a substantially reduced cost.

The Zeus 1 and Zeus 2 are high-performance 32.5-inch diameter SRMs, designed with versatility and affordability in mind as a complement to Kratos’ internally funded investments in the Erinyes hypersonic test “flyer” that is expected to debut later this year. Kratos Zeus SRMs will also complement Kratos’ internally funded, follow-on Dark Fury hypersonic system, which nature and performance characteristics are highly classified. These Kratos investments in the hypersonic and other relevant areas create a versatile family of test, evaluation and “other” products that offer complete systems, SRMs, and flyers. With the Zeus SRMs, and the Erinyes, Dark Fury, and other Kratos front ends, Kratos is one of the only companies boasting both launcher and “Flyer” systems within one organization, providing unmatched innovation, disruptive capabilities, mission responsiveness and affordability to the customer.

Dave Carter, President of Kratos Defense & Rocket Support Services Division, said, “The Kratos Zeus family of SRMs is representative of our strategy to internally fund, rapidly develop, be first to market and field affordable, relevant systems to the United States Department of Defense and our Allies. At Kratos, affordability is a technology, and the low cost of these incredibly effective, high-performance systems, is driving significant interest from the relevant customer and user communities, as represented by this initial order of Zeus SRMs.”

Eric DeMarco, President and CEO of Kratos, said, “Kratos Zeus family of SRMs demonstrates our internally funded investment strategy of delivering relevant products and systems, not power points or renditions, to the National Security market. Kratos Zeus family of motors, similar to other Kratos systems, including tactical drones like Valkyrie, our Oriole rocket, and our hypersonic flyers Erinyes and Dark Fury, are not only rapidly developed and demonstrated, but are also engineered up front for affordable mass production at quantity, an additional Kratos differentiator and value enhancer for our government customers and also for our traditional prime system integrator partners.”