Kratos and GE Aerospace’s Small Engine Testing Gains Altitude

Rhea-AI Summary

Kratos Defense (NASDAQ:KTOS) and GE Aerospace (NYSE:GE) have initiated altitude testing of their GEK800 small engine at Purdue University's Maurice J. Zucrow Laboratories. The 800-lb jet engine is designed for next-generation unmanned aerial systems (UAS), collaborative combat aircraft (CCAs), and missiles.

The testing will evaluate engine performance at altitudes between 5,000-35,000 feet and is expected to complete by year-end. The companies have already completed over 50 engine starts in ground testing. This collaboration, formalized in June 2025, builds upon their 2024 MOU to develop and produce cost-effective engines for unmanned platforms.

Positive

• Successful completion of over 50 engine starts in ground testing
• Engine has exceeded performance expectations in ground testing to date
• Strategic partnership combines Kratos' 25-year UAS engine experience with GE's century of propulsion expertise
• Engine designed specifically for high-rate, low-cost manufacturing

Negative

• Testing timeline described as 'extremely tight', which could pose execution risks

Insights

Defense Technology Analyst

Kratos and GE's jet engine testing milestone advances their 2023 partnership toward supplying affordable propulsion systems for military unmanned platforms.

The altitude testing of the GEK800 small engine marks a significant advancement in Kratos and GE Aerospace's strategic partnership. This 800-pound jet engine has already completed over 50 engine starts in ground testing and is now entering critical altitude testing between 5,000-35,000 feet at Purdue University's Zucrow Laboratories.

The technical significance here extends beyond the engine itself. The GEK800 represents a solution to a critical bottleneck in defense production chains - affordable propulsion systems for unmanned aerial systems (UAS), collaborative combat aircraft (CCAs), and missiles. These platforms form the backbone of the Pentagon's autonomous systems strategy, but scaling production has been challenging due to engine constraints.

What makes this development particularly noteworthy is the design philosophy. Unlike traditional military engines that prioritize performance regardless of cost, the GEK800 was "designed and engineered up front, from conception, to be manufactured in large quantities at a low cost" according to Kratos Turbine Technologies President Stacey Rock. This approach aligns perfectly with DoD's need for attritable (affordable enough to lose in combat) platforms.

The partnership leverages complementary strengths: Kratos brings 25+ years of experience developing small, affordable engines, while GE Aerospace contributes a century of propulsion expertise and mass-production capabilities. This combination addresses the critical "valley of death" between prototype and deployment that has plagued many promising defense technologies.

The accelerated testing timeline, with completion expected by year-end, reflects the urgency of fielding these capabilities in response to evolving defense requirements, particularly in contested environments where expendable platforms provide tactical advantages without risking pilot lives.

Defense Industry Financial Analyst

This altitude testing milestone represents a meaningful step forward in the Kratos-GE partnership formalized in June, building on their 2023 MOU. The GEK800 engine addresses a critical market need for affordable propulsion systems that can be produced at scale for unmanned platforms and collaborative combat aircraft.

The timing of this development is particularly strategic. The Department of Defense has repeatedly emphasized the need for affordable, attritable platforms that can be deployed in large numbers. Production capacity constraints, particularly for propulsion systems, have been identified as a key limitation in meeting this demand.

From an industrial perspective, this partnership combines Kratos' agility in unmanned systems with GE Aerospace's manufacturing scale—a potentially powerful combination. Kratos' decade-long investment in the engine's initial development, now paired with GE's production capabilities, positions them to potentially capture significant market share in what's becoming an increasingly competitive space.

While the press release doesn't disclose specific financial projections, the emphasis on "high-rate production" and "large quantities at a low cost" signals clear commercial intent. The defense industry has seen several unmanned platform programs struggle with the transition from development to affordable mass production. A successful demonstration of the GEK800's performance in altitude testing could position Kratos and GE favorably for future procurement programs.

The collaborative approach involving AFRL (Air Force Research Laboratory), Purdue University, and two public companies demonstrates an increasingly common public-private partnership model that distributes development costs while accelerating timelines. The mention of completing tests by year-end suggests potential program decisions or next-phase funding could follow in early 2026.

GEK800 Small Engine Designed to Power the Next Generation of Affordable Unmanned Aerial Systems and CCA-type Aircraft

AFRL, GE Aerospace, Kratos Defense, and Purdue Zucrow Labs Collaborating on Extremely Tight Testing Timeline

SAN DIEGO, Sept. 23, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (Nasdaq: KTOS), a Technology Company in the Defense, National Security and Global Markets, and GE Aerospace (NYSE: GE) announced that they have started altitude testing on its GEK800 small engine designed to power the next generation of affordable unmanned aerial systems and CCA-type aircraft. The testing began today at an altitude test facility at Purdue University’s Maurice J. Zucrow Laboratories.

“Altitude testing is the next milestone in demonstrating our commitment to delivering high-performance, affordable, jet engines to support our defense customers,” said Stacey Rock, President of Kratos Turbine Technologies. “Our team is uniquely positioned to bring these advanced designs into high-rate production to support the rising demand for propulsion systems for cruise missiles and CCA-type aircraft. The GEK800 has been designed and engineered up front, from conception, to be manufactured in large quantities at a low cost.”

“The GEK800 engine has performed well and exceeded our expectations in its ground testing to date,” said Mark Rettig, Vice President of Edison Works Advanced Programs at GE Aerospace. “During altitude testing, we will collect data on the engine’s performance in a range of altitudes to assess its operability in simulated real-world conditions.”

“We are thrilled that the propulsion test infrastructure of our new lab created the opportunity to test the new GEK800 engine,” said Scott Meyer, Managing Director of Zucrow Laboratories. “The cooperation and comradery between the GE and Kratos teams, and our students and staff at Zucrow Labs, has been amazingly productive and a pleasure to be a part of. We are excited to have a role in the development of this critical new capability for our nation.”

The GEK800 is an 800-lb jet engine that could potentially power unmanned aerial systems (UAS), collaborative combat aircraft (CCAs), and missiles. Initially developed and ground tested by Kratos over the course of a decade, Kratos and GE Aerospace began working together in 2023 to complete additional development efforts and testing on the engine and have completed more than 50 engine starts in ground testing at Kratos and GE Aerospace testing facilities.

The altitude testing will focus on an altitude window between 5,000-35,000 feet and is anticipated to be complete by the end of the year. GE Aerospace, Kratos, and Purdue University have been collaborating for the last few months on the engine testing, which will be the first engine to test at newly expanded ZL9 test facility at Zucrow Labs.

“The collaboration between AFRL, GE Aerospace, Kratos Defense, and Purdue Zucrow Labs on an extremely tight timeline is outstanding. While demonstrating engine technology is clearly significant, the successful development of rapid and affordable altitude test capability is a crucial element in delivering on our nation's defense readiness,” said Chris Rawlings, Vice President, of Kratos Turbine Technologies Defense Programs.

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. This collaboration strengthens the companies’ ongoing partnership and builds on last year’s Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to advance the development and production of small, cost-effective engines for unmanned platforms. The new teaming agreement expands on that MOU and provides the framework for the two companies to develop, manufacture, test, and field the GEK800 engine.

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 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, hypersonic 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. For more information, visit www.KratosDefense.com.

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. Learn more about how GE Aerospace and its partners are defining flight for today, tomorrow, and the future at www.geaerospace.com. 

Notice Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements in this press release may constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements are made on the basis of the current beliefs, expectations and assumptions of the management of Kratos and are subject to significant risks and uncertainty. Investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance on any such forward-looking statements. All such forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made, and Kratos undertakes no obligation to update or revise these statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Although Kratos believes that the expectations reflected in these forward-looking statements are reasonable, these statements involve many risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from what may be expressed or implied in these forward-looking statements. For a further discussion of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ from those expressed in these forward-looking statements, as well as risks relating to the business of Kratos in general, see the risk disclosures in the Annual Report on Form 10-K of Kratos for the year ended December 29, 2024, and in subsequent reports on Forms 10-Q and 8-K and other filings made with the SEC by Kratos.

Media Contacts:
GE Aerospace: Deb Case Deborah.case@geaerospace.com +1-513-418-1644  

Press Contact:
Claire Cantrell
claire.cantrell@kratosdefense.com

Investor Information:
877-934-4687
investor@kratosdefense.com

FAQ

What is the GEK800 engine being developed by Kratos and GE Aerospace?

The GEK800 is an 800-lb jet engine designed to power unmanned aerial systems (UAS), collaborative combat aircraft (CCAs), and missiles, developed through a partnership between Kratos and GE Aerospace.

What are the altitude testing parameters for the Kratos-GE GEK800 engine?

The GEK800 engine is being tested at altitudes between 5,000-35,000 feet at Purdue University's Zucrow Laboratories, with testing expected to complete by the end of 2025.

How many engine starts has the GEK800 completed in ground testing?

The GEK800 has completed more than 50 engine starts in ground testing at both Kratos and GE Aerospace testing facilities.

When did Kratos and GE Aerospace formalize their engine development partnership?

Kratos and GE Aerospace signed a formal teaming agreement in June 2025, building upon their previous Memorandum of Understanding from 2024.

Where is the altitude testing of the GEK800 engine being conducted?

The altitude testing is being conducted at the newly expanded ZL9 test facility at Purdue University's Maurice J. Zucrow Laboratories.