Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc., a technology company in Defense, National Security and Global Markets, announced today that it has been awarded a contract through the Department of War’s Joint Hypersonics Transition Office to support test and evaluation of thermal protection systems for hypersonic vehicles. For this program, Kratos will leverage decades of expertise in hypersonics to analyze various missions and flight environments to understand appropriate testing conditions. Kratos will establish standard test conditions and techniques to accelerate materials development and can be used as a baseline for other similar aerothermal test facilities.

“The Kratos team is committed to advancing materials for hypersonics through testing and evaluation,” said Ben Dempsey, Kratos SRE Vice President of Programs. “Our focus is on accelerating the development of systems for our warfighter. This begins with increased throughput of our nation’s testing infrastructure, and by making investments in new infrastructure, like the recently awarded Project Helios.”

The test methodologies developed under this program will serve as a model for the hypersonic testing community, accelerating the advancement and deployment of next-generation U.S. hypersonic vehicle technologies. Additionally, Kratos will execute a series of material test campaigns leveraging these procedures that will validate the methodology and mature material solutions.