SAN DIEGO, April 22, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (Nasdaq: KTOS), a Technology Company in the Defense, National Security and Global Markets, today announced the continued expansion and operational deployment of its automated truck platooning systems in Ohio and Indiana.
Building upon the company’s March 2024 announcement of a contract to deploy its self-driving platooning technology between Ohio and Indiana along a major trucking corridor, this new milestone marks the success of Kratos’ autonomous trucks on I-70 automated driving deployment project, supported by the U.S. Department of Transportation, DriveOhio, and the Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT). The initiative’s goal is to advance the adoption of truck automation technologies in the logistics industry across the Midwest.
“At Kratos, we have adapted advanced automated truck platooning technology, originally developed for the U.S. military, to address critical challenges facing commercial logistics, agriculture, energy, and mining sectors, all vital to national security,” said Maynard Factor, VP of Business Development at Kratos Defense. “This project offers a real-world opportunity to demonstrate how proven, automated-driving systems can increase safety, strengthen supply chain resilience, and ensure economic vitality. Operating along the I-70 corridor between Ohio and Indiana enables us to showcase performance in complex, all-weather conditions essential to Midwest freight operations and accelerates readiness for broad adoption. This marks a significant step forward in bringing scalable, next-generation automation to the industries that keep the nation moving.”
The deployment in Ohio and Indiana exemplifies Kratos’ long-standing strategy of leveraging dual-use technologies, originally developed for national security, into cost-effective, high-impact commercial and public infrastructure applications. These efforts multiply the value of internal research and development investments, facilities, and platforms across both sectors.
Kratos’ Leader-Follower platooning capability – where a human-driven lead truck is paired with an automated follower – has been deployed in the U.K. and across the U.S., with multiple systems deployed in states that include Colorado, California, Florida, Minnesota, Missouri, North Dakota, Ohio, Indiana, Oklahoma, Wisconsin, and Tennessee. These systems are proven adaptable to multiple national security adjacent industries from infrastructure maintenance to commercial supply chain operations increasing safety and maintaining business continuity.
Kratos’ automated platooning systems deliver transformative benefits across both the defense and commercial sectors. This proven technology addresses critical challenges to include the national truck driver shortage, a persistent bottleneck to supply chain resilience. Additionally, unlike human operators, the system does not suffer from fatigue or impairment, enhancing safety for the traveling public and offering the potential to lower insurance costs through improved predictability and reduced risk. In defense and industrial applications, these vehicles can protect lives by removing personnel from hazardous missions and maintain operational effectiveness in GPS-denied or harsh environments, critical for remote military and logistics operations.
Kratos is recognized as a national leader in unmanned systems, with a portfolio spanning tactical and target jet drones, unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs) for military applications, and autonomous commercial trucks. From high-performance platforms like the XQ-58A Valkyrie to autonomous ground systems used in infrastructure maintenance and supply chain industries, Kratos brings decades of innovation and operational expertise to the unmanned domain. Each system is designed to meet the exacting standards of U.S. and allied defense requirements while enabling cross-over potential for commercial use cases—making Kratos a pioneer in delivering dual-use, high-value unmanned solutions at scale.
For more information on Kratos’ autonomous vehicle programs, visit: www.kratosdefense.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, 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.
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.
