Kratos Unmanned Systems

Kratos Unmanned Systems (KUS) is the unmanned aerial vehicle division of Kratos Defense and Security solutions, a San Diego-based mid-cap defence contractor. KUS is responsible for developing and producing the XQ-58A Valkyrie, the US Air Force's flagship low-cost attritable autonomous combat aircraft programme. The division has grown rapidly on the strength of Valkyrie activity, with Q1 2026 revenue of $82.6 million, up 30.9% organically, inside Kratos's total Q1 revenue of $371 million .

Kratos raised its full-year 2026 guidance to $1.7-1.76 billion and opened low-rate initial production (LRIP) negotiations targeting 40 Valkyrie aircraft per year by early 2028. That production rate trails Anduril's Arsenal-1 facility in Columbus, Ohio, which is rated at 150 YFQ-44A Fury aircraft per year, a 3.75x gap that analysts cite as a down-selection risk when the Collaborative Combat Aircraft contract reaches its next decision gate. Kratos backlog stood at $2.010 billion as of 29 March 2026. On 6 July 2026 Kratos announced a 106,000 sq ft expansion of its Oklahoma City manufacturing campus to accelerate production of Valkyrie, Firejet and other jet-drone systems beyond its current run rate of roughly 165 jet drones per year, a direct response to the capacity gap with Arsenal-1.

KUS revenue of roughly $20 million within the $82.6 million quarterly total suggests Valkyrie remains a modest share of the division's output, with the remainder coming from other unmanned platforms and services. Kratos's broader hedge includes a hypersonics ramp expected to contribute $400 million in 2026 and $700 million in 2027, providing significant revenue diversification independent of the CCA competition outcome.