The U.S. Navy has awarded Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. a subsonic aerial target system contract.
As noted by the company, its Kratos Unmanned Aerial Systems unit has received a Cost-Plus-Fixed-Fee Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity contract award for $14,748,648 from the U.S. Navy for five year ordering period to continue software maintenance and updates of the BQM-177A Subsonic Aerial Targets (SSAT).
Steve Fendley, President of the Kratos Unmanned Systems Division, said, “This award provides the foundation to continue our work with the Navy, maturing and evolving the SSAT aircraft on pace with the threat environment. This enables us to collectively provide the training to stress and exercise our fleet prior to their deployments to increasingly challenging theaters of operation, ultimately strengthening our nation’s defense and helping protect the warfighter. Consistent with our corporate motto, we continue our trend to be ready for what’s next.”
BQM-177A is a recoverable target that replaces the legacy recoverable BQM-74E target with a modernized subsonic target with increased capabilities. The target is capable of speeds in excess of 0.9 Mach and a sea-skimming altitude as low as 10 feet.
This highly-versatile aerial target supports a variety of mission requirements by carrying a wide array of internal and external payloads including proximity scoring, Identification Friend or Foe (IFF), passive and active RF augmentation, electronic counter-measures, infrared (IR) augmentation (plume pods), chaff and flare dispensers, and towed targets.