Kratos seeks US permission to produce strike drones in Taiwan — Taipei Times

US defense company Kratos Defense is seeking permission from the US government to manufacture the jointly developed Mighty Hornet IV loitering munitions in Taiwan. Steve Fendley, president of the company’s unmanned systems division, said this after participating in recent certification flight tests of the vehicle at a facility in southern Taiwan, Taipei Times reports.

Gradual localization of production

According to Fendley, cooperation between Kratos and Taiwan’s National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology involves several stages of technology transfer. Initially, Kratos will manufacture the drone airframes, while the Taiwanese side will install mission-critical components and payloads.

At the next stage, the US company will supply assembly kits. This is intended to gradually develop Taiwan’s capabilities in manufacturing, quality control and systems integration. The ultimate goal is to obtain US State Department licenses for technology transfers that will allow fully fledged assembly lines to be established in Taiwan.

Fendley also said that if local capacity for serial production is developed, Taiwan could expect Mighty Hornet IV orders from the US government.

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Mighty Hornet IV specifications

The Mighty Hornet IV is a jet-powered loitering munition developed under the concept of affordable mass. According to a Kratos representative, its strike capabilities amount to about 90% of those of a manned fighter jet, while the cost of one vehicle is US$500,000.

The drone can reach speeds of Mach 0.7 to 0.85, or 864 to 1,049 km/h. Its airframe is based on Kratos’ Firejet, while the Taiwanese institute developed the sensors, navigation system, electronic warfare suite and high-explosive warhead. Fendley called the system adapted to Taiwan’s operating conditions.

In addition, Kratos and the Chung-Shan Institute are working on a variant of the stealthy XQ-58 Valkyrie unmanned aircraft. Such a platform is intended to supplement manned aircraft with sensors, electronic warfare capabilities and strike capabilities, and can also operate independently or as part of a swarm using onboard artificial intelligence.