Kratos Issues LoI for 60 FRP Zeus Hypersonic System Rocket Motors from L3Harris

December 23, 2025

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ: KTOS), a leader in defense, national security and global markets, announced today that it has issued a letter of intent to L3Harris Technologies (LHX: NYSE) for an order of 40 Zeus 1 and 20 Zeus 2 hypersonic motors. The large Zeus SRM acquisition by Kratos is representative of the existing under contract, expected future hypersonic and other system launch manifest(s), as Kratos continues to execute its longstanding strategy of making internally funded investments to move fast, and be first to market with affordable, relevant systems for U.S. National Security.

The Zeus 1 and Zeus 2 are high-performance, 32.5-inch diameter solid rocket motors (SRMs) providing substantial performance improvements over similar legacy rockets. They are purposely designed to be fully compatible with existing payloads and launch infrastructure, to enable rapid integration of new technologies and advanced payloads, including those currently under development by Kratos. These and other key attributes will provide Kratos and our customers, including the MACH-TB 2.0 program, with opportunities to fly more often, faster and farther, using fewer stages, and at a substantially reduced cost.

“This strategic purchase of Zeus hypersonic rocket motors is a direct reflection and result of Kratos’ long-standing approach: investing our own capital to build capability, capacity, and inventory ahead of customer need,” said Eric DeMarco, President and CEO of Kratos. “By putting real product on the shelf and delivering real, ready-now systems at scale, we are fully aligned with Secretary Hegseth’s acquisition reform priorities to accelerate delivery, put our own skin in the game, and equip the warfighter faster and more affordably. We have a number of additional, low-cost hypersonic systems and products, certain of which are flying today, as we are committed to being the go-to, low cost, hypersonic system and hardware provider for the United States.”

Kratos developed the Zeus family of SRMs in direct response to the need for affordable commercial launch vehicle stages for hypersonic test, ballistic missile targets, scientific research, sounding rocket and special customer missions. Kratos applied its significant rocket launch experience to establish the Zeus 1 and Zeus 2 motor specifications in close coordination with respective customer and user communities. Kratos internally funded development of the Zeus SRMs which are designed and manufactured to Kratos’ specifications by key merchant supplier and partner, L3Harris.

The Zeus SRM family is designed with versatility and affordability in mind as a complement to Kratos’ other internally funded investments such as the Erinyes hypersonic test “flyer” that debuted in June 2024. Kratos’ investments in hypersonic and other relevant mission areas create a versatile family of test and evaluation products that offer complete systems. With the Zeus SRMs, the Erinyes, and other Kratos front end systems, 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.

This order further demonstrates Kratos’ steadfast commitment to supporting the Department of War customer by investing in systems and inventory. This investment, along with Kratos’ recent order for 60 22-inch diameter Oriole solid rocket motors, is ensuring that rapid and relevant flight test platforms are available as needed to accelerate hypersonic research and deliver capability to our warfighters.

Source : Kratos Defense & Security Solutions