Kratos & RAFAEL Establish Prometheus Energetics Joint Venture, a U.S.-Based Merchant Supplier of Solid Rocket Motors

Rhea-AI Summary

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ: KTOS) and RAFAEL Advanced Defense Systems have announced a 50/50 partnership to establish Prometheus Energetics, a U.S.-based supplier of solid rocket motors (SRMs) and energetics. The joint venture will be located on a 500-acre site near Crane, Indiana, with both companies committing up to $175 million in capital.

Production is projected to begin in 2027 after construction and RAFAEL's technology transfer completion. The facility will manufacture SRMs and casted warheads to support U.S. national security demands and Middle East partnerships. Kratos will account for Prometheus using the Equity Method, recording approximately 50% of Prometheus Net Income and receiving 50% of its Free Cash Flow.

Positive

• Joint venture secures $175M capital commitment
• Strategic expansion into SRM manufacturing market
• 50% share of future revenue and cash flow
• Access to RAFAEL's combat-proven technology
• Strengthens U.S. defense industrial base capabilities

Negative

• Production not starting until 2027
• Significant capital investment required upfront
• Extended timeline for return on investment

Insights

Financial Analyst

Kratos Defense and RAFAEL Advanced Defense Systems have formed Prometheus Energetics, a 50/50 joint venture with $175 million in committed capital to establish a U.S.-based solid rocket motor (SRM) manufacturing facility in Indiana. This strategic move addresses a critical vulnerability in the U.S. defense industrial base - the domestic production capacity for solid rocket motors that power missiles, interceptors, and hypersonic weapons.

From a financial perspective, this investment uses the equity method of accounting, meaning Kratos will record 50% of Prometheus' net income as a single line item and receive half of its free cash flow. While this structure won't immediately impact Kratos' revenue, it creates a potentially significant earnings stream beginning in 2027 when production starts. The company will wisely report Prometheus results separately to maintain transparency about core operations versus this new venture.

This partnership represents Kratos' strategic evolution from primarily providing components and services to developing higher-margin complete systems and critical subsystems. By establishing itself as a merchant supplier (selling to multiple defense contractors rather than being captive to a single program), Prometheus can capitalize on growing demand across multiple weapons programs and customers.

The SRM market is experiencing heightened demand driven by missile defense expansion, hypersonic weapons development, and replenishment of munitions stockpiles. With few domestic suppliers and persistent supply chain constraints, this venture positions Kratos to capture market share in a segment with high barriers to entry and strong pricing power. The partnership with RAFAEL brings proven technological expertise, particularly in interceptor systems like Iron Dome, providing credibility and potential access to both U.S. and allied nation procurement opportunities.

Defense Industry Expert

The Kratos-RAFAEL joint venture to establish Prometheus Energetics represents a strategically critical addition to the U.S. defense industrial base that addresses a severe capability gap in domestic solid rocket motor (SRM) production. The U.S. has experienced alarming consolidation in this sector over the past two decades, with the number of SRM manufacturers declining by over 70%, creating single points of failure in the missile supply chain.

This venture's significance extends beyond its $175 million investment - it introduces a new merchant supplier in a market dominated by a handful of manufacturers like Northrop Grumman and Aerojet Rocketdyne, who are already operating at capacity with significant order backlogs. Current SRM production constraints have directly impacted fielding timelines for critical weapons systems including hypersonic missiles, interceptors, and tactical munitions.

The technology transfer from RAFAEL brings battle-proven propulsion expertise that has demonstrated exceptional reliability in high-stress combat environments through systems like Iron Dome. This represents a rare instance of Israel transferring sensitive propulsion technology to a U.S. facility, indicating both the strategic importance and the exceptional level of trust between these defense partners.

Locating the facility near Naval Support Activity Crane leverages an existing defense industrial ecosystem with experience in energetics and ordnance. However, establishing this manufacturing capability faces significant challenges, including:

• Building a specialized workforce with expertise in energetic materials handling
• Navigating strict regulatory requirements for explosives manufacturing
• Establishing secure supply chains for precursor materials
• Meeting increasingly stringent environmental regulations

The 2027 production timeline reflects these complexities but positions Prometheus to capitalize on the Pentagon's increased investment in missile systems, which is projected to grow at 7-9% annually through 2030, outpacing overall defense budget growth.

SAN DIEGO, Feb. 26, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (Nasdaq: KTOS), a technology company in the defense, national security and global markets, and RAFAEL Advanced Defense Systems Ltd., today announced an approximate 50/50 partnership for the establishment of a U.S.-based merchant supplier of solid rocket motors (SRMs) and other energetics. The new joint venture, named Prometheus Energetics (“Prometheus”), is set to be headquartered on an approximate 500-acre site near the United States Navy and Army facility in Crane, Indiana.

Kratos and RAFAEL (through its U.S. based subsidiary RAFAEL USA) have jointly committed up to $175 million in capital for the establishment of Prometheus and required property, plant, equipment and personnel needed for the new, state-of-the-art energetics manufacturing campus and facilities. After construction of the plant and once RAFAEL's technology transfer is completed and certified for operations, Prometheus is projected to begin production in 2027 of SRMs.

RAFAEL is the developer and manufacturer of unique, world-renowned systems such as the Iron Dome and the TROPHY APS which are in service in the Israeli Defense Forces as well as the David's Sling which provides the middle layer of air defense for the state of Israel. The company, originally established as the IDF Science Corps, has developed groundbreaking technologies like high energy laser solutions like the Iron Beam which are expected to be operational by the end of 2025. The company functions through a vertical integration structure that enables a unique ability to meet the demands and overcome the challenges of the global market and supply chain. RAFAEL offers a diverse portfolio from new space to the ground battlespace with battle-proven technologies.

Kratos is a leader in hypersonic or advanced systems, strategic systems, ballistic missile targets, sub-orbital research vehicles, sounding rockets, and solid rocket motors. Kratos has served the U.S. advanced systems and missile defense communities for decades, delivering numerous novel systems and vehicle flight tests. Kratos is the only company today delivering both propulsion and advanced flight systems, with Kratos advanced systems including the low-cost Erinyes Glide Vehicle, Dark Fury, Zeus and Oriole Solid Rocket Motors, and other Kratos systems and technologies. Kratos provides unmatched innovation, disruptive capabilities, mission responsiveness and affordability to our customers across our portfolio of systems.

Eric DeMarco, President and CEO of Kratos Defense, said, “We believe Prometheus, once up and running at full rate production, will be a step function catalyst in value creation for Kratos’ stakeholders and the U.S. defense industrial base, similar to Kratos’ recent MACH-TB contract award—the largest single-award contract in Kratos history. Like other major Kratos investments such as Oriole, Zeus, and Erinyes, Prometheus responds to a critical need to strengthen the U.S. Industrial Base and will also provide tens of thousands of SRMs and casted warheads supporting both America’s most reliable partner in the Middle East and United States national security related demand from a true SRM and energetics merchant supplier.”

Kratos will reflect Prometheus in its consolidated financial statements on the Equity Method of Accounting, under which Kratos will record approximately 50 percent of Prometheus Net Income on a single line “Net Income from Prometheus Energetics” in its income statement, and Kratos will annually receive approximately 50 percent of the Free Cash Flow generated from Prometheus. Kratos intends to continue to report Kratos Operating Income, Net Income, Adjusted EBITDA and other financial matrices separate from the Prometheus results, in order for all Kratos stakeholders to be able to follow the progress of each Company, the investment made in Prometheus and the future return on Kratos’ investment in Prometheus.

RAFAEL Advanced Defense Systems Ltd., one of Israel’s largest defense contractors, develops, manufactures, and sustains combat-proven technologies, products, and systems-of-systems for air, land, naval, space and digital applications. RAFAEL’s delivery of combat-proven systems is supported by vertically integrated facilities and engineering teams servicing the development and production of SRMs and warhead (WH) products that play a critical role in Israel's Iron Dome, the world’s premier air defense system designed to intercept and destroy short-range rockets, artillery shells, UAVs, and other aerial threats. This vertical integration has made RAFAEL a leading expert in SRMs and WH development and production, allowing it to continuously expand capabilities and push the envelope in technology, performance, and fielding of effective systems. RAFAEL's multi-dimensional portfolio and unique innovative capabilities have enabled the development of world-leading technologies across all spheres.

Yoav Tourgeman, President and CEO of RAFAEL Advanced Defense Systems Ltd., said:
“The establishment of Prometheus Energetics is a strategic leap forward, reinforcing RAFAEL’s commitment to strengthening the U.S. defense industrial base while ensuring our allies and partners have access to the most advanced, combat-proven energetics solutions. This step constitutes a strategic vector that combines business considerations in the American market with the increasing demand for energetic products, while significantly enhancing our ability to deliver resilient and reliable supply solutions to our customers. Through this joint venture, we are deepening our longstanding partnership with the United States, strengthening supply chain independence, and bolstering the critical capabilities needed to address evolving national security challenges.”

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, advanced 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 RAFAEL Advanced Defense Systems Ltd.
Established in 1948, RAFAEL Advanced Defense Systems Ltd. develops, manufactures, and sustains combat-proven technologies, products, and systems-of-systems for air, land, naval, space and digital applications. As the developer of two integral layers of Israel's multi-layered air defense array and the developer of the world's only operation active protection system TROPHY APS, the company offers innovative and proven solutions for the global market. RAFAEL's air defense portfolio has achieved international recognition from Iron Dome to David's Sling and is expected to provide the first ever operational high-energy laser weapon system to the IDF by 2025. The company has bolstered its international standing as a top-tier defense manufacturer by through an innovative approach of vertical integration enabling seamless technology transfer and local production, making it a trusted partner for defense solutions in global markets, particularly in the U.S. where its systems strengthen national security priorities. Leveraging its technological ingenuity, operational experience, and unparalleled understanding of evolving combat requirements, RAFAEL provides global warfighters with today's most advanced technologies and life-saving defense solutions that ensure operational superiority. RAFAEL's strategy includes strategic international partnerships and localization to ensure customer sovereignty. For more information on RAFAEL, please visit https://www.rafael.co.il/

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.

Press Contacts: Claire Burghoff claire.burghoff@kratosdefense.com Daniel Tsemach DANIELT5@rafael.co.il Investor Information: 877-934-4687 investor@kratosdefense.com

FAQ

What is the total investment committed to Prometheus Energetics by Kratos (KTOS) and RAFAEL?

Kratos and RAFAEL have jointly committed up to $175 million in capital for Prometheus Energetics' establishment, including property, plant, equipment, and personnel.

When will Prometheus Energetics begin production of solid rocket motors?

Prometheus Energetics is projected to begin production in 2027, following plant construction and RAFAEL's technology transfer completion.

Where will the new Prometheus Energetics facility be located?

The facility will be located on a 500-acre site near the United States Navy and Army facility in Crane, Indiana.

How will KTOS account for Prometheus Energetics in its financial statements?

Kratos will use the Equity Method of Accounting, recording 50% of Prometheus Net Income and receiving 50% of its Free Cash Flow.