Kratos Announces Successful First Flight of Erinyes Hypersonic Test Bed

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. has announced that its Space & Missile Defense Systems Business Unit, a part of Kratos’ Defense & Rocket Support Systems (DRSS) Division, supported the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) and the Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC), in the successful launch and flight of the Kratos Erinyes Hypersonic Test Bed, on June 12, 2024, from the NASA Wallops Flight Facility (WFF) in Virginia.

This successful first flight of the Erinyes vehicle demonstrates a new and novel platform capability for rapid hypersonic experimentation for the U.S. Department of Defense.

The exercise, designated Hypersonic Test Bed-1 (HTB-1), demonstrated hypersonic flight that enabled the collection of data for multiple experiments to be provided to test teams for design validation and evaluation of new technologies.

“Hypersonic experimenters now have a robust and affordable path across the TRL [Technology Readiness Level]. The ability to demonstrate experimental technologies on a real hypersonic flight testbed, without adding risk to programs of record, is game-changing,” stated Dave Carter, President of Kratos’ DRSS Division. “Following this success, we will turn to preparing for our next test, incorporating a new set of experiments. I couldn’t be prouder of our team.”

Eric DeMarco, President and CEO of Kratos, said,

“The 100% successful flight of the Kratos Erinyes hypersonic vehicle with our MDA and Navy partners is representative of the power of Kratos’ approach to be first to market with leading technology systems and products, which accelerates development and delivery schedules, while significantly reducing cost. Kratos’ Rocket and Hypersonic systems development programs are positioned to disrupt the market with affordable, relevant systems, and we expect Kratos’ hypersonic franchise, including Erinyes, Zeus, Oriole and other systems to be a key contributor to our expected future organic growth trajectory.

Kratos is laser focused on expanding the U.S. National Security Industrial Base, increasing competition, reducing cost and delivering significant value to all Kratos stakeholders, including the MDA, U.S. Navy and other Government customers. Kratos has served the U.S. hypersonic community for decades through novel system and vehicle flight testing.”

Source: Press Release