Kratos Providing Spartan J85 Engines to Support Boeing JDAM LR Production Contract

August 24, 2026

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (Nasdaq: KTOS), a technology company in defense, national security, and global markets, today announced an allocation of its expanded Spartan engine production capacity to support Boeing’s Joint Direct Attack Munition Long Range production program with TDI-J85 (J85) engines.

This month, the U.S. Air Force awarded Boeing a $75 million Undefinitized Contract Action (UCA) to acquire the BSU-111/B Payload Delivery Unit (PDU) Joint Direct Attack Munition Long Range (JDAM LR), a precision-guided munition that can travel over 300 nautical miles with a 500-pound class (226-kilogram) payload. The Kratos J85 engine has been selected as the engine source to power the munition, enhancing the affordable precision-strike capability with our high-volume, low-cost, military-grade propulsion systems for the U.S. military and allied partners.

“National security priorities demand affordable mass and resilient, domestic supply chains,” said Steve Fendley, President of Kratos Unmanned Systems. “Kratos’ internally funded and proactive supply-chain investments ensure we are not just preparing for future demand, and we are actively manufacturing the high-volume propulsion systems our customers require today.”

The J85 engines are produced in Kratos’ advanced 22,500-square-foot Propulsion Manufacturing Facility in Auburn Hills, Michigan, which is fully operational and optimized to sustain full-rate production.

To bolster and stabilize the defense industrial base supply chain, Kratos has initiated procurement of long-lead components for Spartan engines to support a large production run for a number of customers and applications in 2027, Boeing JDAM LR being key as the engine was originally designed to support this application. The large run enables economies of scale for cost and to address the published need by the Department of War to expand the U.S. industrial base and especially key technologies such as jet engines. Kratos is also executing a three-phase manufacturing infrastructure plan designed to expand production capacity, enabling rapid responsiveness to emerging customer requirements.

“The operational readiness of our Auburn Hills facility marks a pivotal transition from engineering development to high-rate tactical manufacturing,” said Joseph Kovasity, Senior Vice President of Kratos TDI. “Integrating the Spartan turbojet family into Boeing’s JDAM LR program provides a reliable, scalable, domestically sourced propulsion solution that meets urgent national defense needs.”

Source : Kratos Defense & Security Solutions