SAN DIEGO, July 14, 2009 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (Nasdaq:KTOS), a leading national security, information technology and public safety solutions provider, today announced that its Digital Fusion subsidiary, along with the US Army Aviation and Missile Research, Development and Engineering Center (AMRDEC), NLOS-LS Project Office and the US Army Strategic Missile Defense Command, successfully completed the first guided test flight of the Non - Line of Sight Transport (NLOS-T) proof of principle prototype. The NLOS-T is a program for a canister launched missile or unmanned system capable of delivering a variety of lethal and non-lethal payloads, and of providing Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance information. NLOS-T is planned for future transition to the Army's Non Line of Sight Launch System (NLOS-LS).
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Kratos/DFI was selected as the prime contractor and commenced design and development of NLOS-T in March of 2006. The NLOS-T program was created to demonstrate a dramatically unique approach toward the development of flexible and affordable, yet highly effective weapon systems. A critical objective of the program is affordability, if thousands or even tens of thousands of these systems were to be procured with varying or different payloads or mission requirements. This affordability will be achieved through heavy utilization of low cost, readily attainable components and technologies in a modular design that can easily be manufactured.
"This highly successful first test flight is a testament to the top engineering talent and commitment of the Kratos/DFI and AMRDEC joint development team. It also confirms the viability of a streamlined development approach to affordable and effective weapons for the warfighter," said Dave Junghans, Vice President of Kratos/DFI's Advanced Design, Development and Prototyping Division, and Program Director for the NLOS-T program.
Col. Douglas Dever, Program Manager for the NLOS-LS program, stated, "All objectives were met, absolutely the best first mission I have ever seen."
Greg Haynes, the Army's NLOS-LS ATO manager, remarked, "This highly successful flight is a good example of how the Science & Technology (S&T) community, acquisition program manager and industry working together can achieve great things and plant the seed for future capabilities for our warfighters."
NLOS-T is initially designed to be ground launched from a NLOS-LS Container Launch Unit canister using a custom booster developed by the Army's AMRDEC propulsion lab. The first flight test of NLOS-T on June 25, 2009 at the Naval Air Warfare Center China Lake, California, successfully demonstrated NLOS-T air vehicle baseline performance. After an initial boost phase propelling the vehicle to cruising altitude, the vehicle successfully deployed its wing and transitioned to sustain flight mode under the power of an electric propulsion system.
NLOS-T is completely autonomous using a GPS assisted Inertial Navigation System (INS) to fly a pre-programmed mission. Although the primary objective for the first test flight was to demonstrate transition from boost phase to sustained controlled flight, all other objectives, including to fly GPS waypoints and dispense multiple payloads were also met. Future immediate plans for NLOS-T include enhancements to the air vehicle design to optimize performance; integration and demonstration of various user payloads; and transition to the NLOS-LS acquisition program.
"Our continued success on this program positively demonstrates Kratos/DFI's extensive capabilities, and is a major part of our strategy to develop and leverage affordable and capable technologies into missile systems as well as other unmanned systems such as UAVs," said Junghans.
Eric Demarco, President and CEO of Kratos, said, "We are all extremely proud of the entire Kratos/DFI NLOS-T team. Unmanned Systems capabilities are a strategic focus area of Kratos, and this successful flight with our customers at China Lake demonstrates just some of Kratos' existing capabilities in this area. We believe that the acquisition of Digital Fusion which closed at the end of last year was extremely valuable for the Kratos shareholders for a number of reasons including NLOS-T, and DFI and Kratos combined capabilities, customers, contract vehicles and employees are an absolute win-win for all of the combined company's stakeholders."
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Notice Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This news release contains certain forward-looking statements including, without limitation, expressed or implied statements. Such statements are only predictions, and the Company's actual results may differ materially. Factors that may cause the Company's results to differ include, but are not limited to: risks associated with debt leverage; risks that changes or cutbacks in spending by the U.S. Department of Defense may occur, which could cause delays or cancellations of key government contracts; failure to successfully consummate acquisitions or integrate acquired operations and competition in the marketplace which could reduce revenues and profit margins. The Company undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements. These and other risk factors are more fully discussed in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the period ended December 29, 2008, the Company's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the period ended March 30, 2009, and in other filings made with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
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