GE Aerospace and Kratos Small Engine Testing Gains Altitude

LAFAYETTE, INDIANA - September 23, 2025 - GE Aerospace (NYSE: GE) and Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (Nasdaq: KTOS) have started altitude testing on their GEK800 small engine designed to power the next generation of affordable unmanned aerial systems and CCA-type aircraft. The testing began today in the High-Speed Propulsion Laboratory (building ZL9) at Purdue University's Maurice J. Zucrow Laboratories.

"The GEK800 engine has performed well and exceeded our expectations in its ground testing to date," said Mark Rettig, vice president & general manager of Edison Works Business & Technology Development 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."

"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 is an 800-lb jet engine that could potentially power unmanned aerial systems (UAS), collaborative combat aircraft (CCAs), and missiles. GE Aerospace and Kratos began working together on the engine in 2023 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 Purdue University's newly expanded ZL9 test facility at Zucrow Labs.

In June, GE Aerospace and Kratos Turbine Technologies, a division of Kratos, 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, as well as collaborate on other low-cost expendable turbofan engines like the GEK1500 engine. The GEK1500 engine will be based on the architecture and learnings from the GEK800.

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. Kratos brings more than 25 years of experience developing and producing small, affordable engines for UAS, drones, and missile platforms.

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.

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.

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.

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Media Contacts:
GE Aerospace

Deb Case
[email protected]
+1 513-418-1644

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions:
Claire Burghoff
[email protected]
+1 314-210-1287