Defence manufacturer Kratos is closing in on a significant milestone for its uncrewed aircraft portfolio, with the company’s XQ-58 Valkyrie jet poised to become a programme of record with the US Marine Corps (USMC).
Such a deal would mark the first orders for the autonomous Valkyrie aircraft outside of a more limited test and evaluation capacity.
Although a signed contract is not yet in hand, the decision has apparently been made in principle.
“It was recently reported that both the US Marine Corps and the Office of the Secretary of Defense stated that the Valkyrie is becoming a programme of record and will be the first [collaborative combat aircraft] in production and fielded for the Marines,” Kratos chief executive Eric DeMarco said during a 7 August call with investors.
DeMarco did not specifically confirm the USMC decision. The service has completed a number of flight tests with the XQ-58, including pairing the unmanned jet with Lockheed Martin F-35B stealth fighters for electronic attack and suppression of enemy air defence roles.
Outlets including Breaking Defense and Investing.com have previously reported the USMC’s Valkyrie procurement decision. They cite senior US officials, including the deputy assistant secretary of defence for prototyping and experimentation and the undersecretary of defence for research and engineering, both of whom appeared at a drone expo at the Pentagon in July, where the XQ-58 was on display.
DeMarco describes the potential financial impact of a Valkyrie production contract as “very significant” for his company’s tactical drones business.
“We could have 15 aircraft ready to deliver immediately upon contract award,” DeMarco says of any firm orders that might be placed in 2026.
With the support of some limited early orders for USMC and US Air Force (USAF) test efforts, Kratos has already jump started XQ-58 production with an initial batch of 24 jets, in anticipation of future demand.
DeMarco says 15-20 Valkyries could be completed and made ready for turnover to a customer in 2026.
“Kratos made the decision to make the investment and begin serial production of 24 Valkyries ahead of contract award, so that Kratos would be first to market and that the potential customers could come to the factory, see their aircraft being built, see the actual cost data for the aircraft, see their aircraft fly, and we believe based on what we expect to occur that this was the correct business decision,” DeMarco says.
The USAF passed over the XQ-58 for its first round of autonomous fighter procurement under the Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) programme.
Kratos hopes to compete for later rounds of CCA contracts as the autonomous fighter concept matures.
However, the company is aggressively pursuing opportunities elsewhere, notably in Germany. Kratos announced a partnership with Airbus Defence & Space in July to offer an XQ-58 derivative to the German air force, with a targeted fielding date of 2029.
DeMarco on 7 August also revealed that Kratos is pursuing a Valkyrie sale with two more unnamed customers, for which he describes the company as being in a “sole source position”.
Confidence in securing significant new orders is high enough that Kratos has begun the process of acquiring long-lead items for an additional 24 XQ-58 jets, which would elevate the current production run to a total of 48 aircraft.
That could include multiple variants of the Valkyrie, such as the original runway-independent configuration, a landing gear-equipped conventional take-off and landing (CTOL) model, a combined version featuring both runway independent and CTOL, and a European-specific design.
Two additional variants could also be added into the mix, DeMarco notes, presumably a nod to the two anonymous customers in the late stages of source selection.
DeMarco hypothetically suggested a sale price of $10 million during the 7 August earnings call, although it is unclear how well that reflects reality.
Fellow autonomous fighter developer General Atomics Aeronautical Systems has previously said it will bring an offering to market for “far less” than $20 million.
