Kratos and GE Aerospace Win U.S. Air Force Award to Design Engine for Expendable Combat Collaborative Aircraft

Joint team will complete preliminary design of the GEK1500 engine to meet high performance and aggressive cost targets, leveraging GEK800 maturation to accelerate delivery

SAN DIEGO, Feb. 23, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ: KTOS), a leader in defense, national security and global markets, and GE Aerospace (NYSE: GE), today announced a joint U.S. Air Force contract for $12.4M to design a next generation engine for small Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA). The initial phase of the program will complete the preliminary design of the GEK1500 engine to meet demanding performance requirements while achieving aggressive cost targets for affordable mass.

Stacey Rock, President of Kratos Turbine Technologies Division, said, “Building on the success of our GEK800 engine program, the development of the GEK1500 further demonstrates our team’s ability and commitment to deliver high-performance, affordable, jet engines that can be rapidly produced to meet the demands of our defense customers.”

“Lessons learned from recent GEK800 altitude testing are directly informing GEK1500 —improving thrust, power generation, and lifecycle cost — so we can meet CCA requirements without compromising affordability or schedule,” said Steve “Doogie” Russell, Vice President and General Manager of Edison Works at GE Aerospace.

The GEK1500 is a 1,500-lb thrust jet engine that could potentially power unmanned aerial systems (UAS), collaborative combat aircraft (CCAs), and missiles. The design of the GEK1500 leverages the GEK800 cruise missile engine architecture which is successfully completing technical maturation. An additional option on the contract, if exercised, would enable the team to assess key design risks and characterize engine performance under relevant flight and installation conditions for the GEK1500 engine. The Air Force has prioritized the development of high performing and low-cost engines to enable the disruptive capabilities of small CCAs.

GEK1500 Engine (Concept Rendition: Kratos and GE Aerospace)

Recent altitude testing of the GEK800 engine demonstrated critical technologies that will provide future systems increased range, increased thrust, decreased life cycle cost, and increased electrical power. The investments and progress made to date on the GEK800 will reduce the cost and schedule timelines for the GEK1500 and provide enhanced performance for small CCAs.

In June, Kratos and GE Aerospace announced the signing of a formal teaming agreement to advance propulsion technologies for the next generation of affordable unmanned aerial systems and CCA-type aircraft, covering the GEK800 and a framework for partnering on additional engines. The result is another formal teaming agreement covering the GEK1500. This collaboration strengthens the companies’ ongoing partnership and builds on a 2024 Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to advance the development and production of small, cost-effective engines for unmanned platforms. The teaming agreement expanded on that MOU and provided the framework for the two companies to develop, manufacture, test, and field the GEK800 and additional GEK engines in higher thrust classes.

Kratos brings more than 25 years of experience developing and producing small, affordable engines for UAS, drones, and missile platforms. GE Aerospace adds a century of expertise in propulsion technology and the ability to scale advanced designs into high-rate production, helping bridge the gap from prototype to deployment.

About GE Aerospace
GE Aerospace is a global aerospace propulsion, services, and systems leader with an installed base of approximately 49,000 commercial and 29,000 military aircraft engines. With a global team of approximately 53,000 employees building on more than a century of innovation and learning, GE Aerospace is committed to inventing the future of flight, lifting people up, and bringing them home safely.

About Kratos Defense & Security Solutions
Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ: KTOS) is a technology, products, system and software company addressing the defense, national security, and commercial markets. Kratos makes true internally funded research, development, capital and other investments, to rapidly develop, produce and field solutions that address our customers’ mission critical needs and requirements. At Kratos, affordability is a technology, and we seek to utilize proven, leading edge approaches and technology, not unproven bleeding edge approaches or technology, with Kratos’ approach designed to reduce cost, schedule and risk, enabling us to be first to market with cost effective solutions. We believe that Kratos is known as an innovative disruptive change agent in the industry, a company that is an expert in designing products and systems up front for successful rapid, large quantity, low-cost future manufacturing which is a value add competitive differentiator for our large traditional prime system integrator partners and also to our government and commercial customers. Kratos intends to pursue program and contract opportunities as the prime or lead contractor when we believe that our probability of win (PWin) is high and any investment required by Kratos is within our capital resource comfort level. We intend to partner and team with a large, traditional system integrator when our assessment of PWin is greater or required investment is beyond Kratos’ comfort level. Kratos’ primary business areas include virtualized ground systems for satellites and space vehicles including software for command & control (C2) and telemetry, tracking and control (TT&C), jet powered unmanned aerial drone systems, advanced vehicles and rocket systems, propulsion systems for drones, missiles, loitering munitions, supersonic systems, space craft and launch systems, C5ISR and microwave electronic products for missile, radar, missile defense, space, satellite, counter UAS, directed energy, communication and other systems, and virtual & augmented reality training systems for the warfighter.