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.
