WASHINGTON — Defense contractor Kratos Defense & Security Solutions won a $1.45 billion contract from the U.S. Department of Defense to develop testing capabilities for hypersonic weapons, marking one of the Pentagon’s largest-ever investments in hypersonic testing infrastructure.
The five-year contract, announced Jan. 6, will support the Multi-Service Advanced Capability Hypersonic Test Bed (MACH-TB) program, which aims to accelerate the development of weapons that travel at speeds exceeding Mach 5, or five times the speed of sound.
San Diego-based Kratos will lead a team of contractors including Leidos, Rocket Lab and Stratolaunch, leveraging commercial infrastructure and launch providers to increase the frequency of hypersonic flight tests. The company will oversee systems engineering, integration, and testing services, including both subscale and full-scale testing capabilities.
The award underscores the growing strategic emphasis on hypersonic technologies as the United States seeks to counter advancements by China, Russia, and other nations. MACH-TB, managed by the Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Research and Engineering, aims to enhance the frequency and capacity of ground and flight tests for hypersonic systems.
“This award represents the next phase of MACH-TB, a critical effort to accelerate the transition of cutting-edge hypersonic capabilities,” said George Rumford, director of the Pentagon’s Test Resource Management Center.
MACH-TB focuses on testing experimental glide bodies and payloads along realistic operational trajectories using commercial launch infrastructure and boosters.
The MACH-TB program also reflects broader trends in the defense sector, as the Pentagon increasingly turns to commercial players to leverage innovative technologies. Companies that have traditionally developed small launch vehicles — facing stiff competition from giants like SpaceX — are seeking new opportunities in hypersonic testing.
Quilty Space, a market research firm, estimates the hypersonic testing market to be worth $6 billion to $7 billion annually, offering a lucrative avenue for dual-use propulsion technologies. Hypersonic weapons are seen as pivotal in maintaining military superiority, given their ability to evade existing missile defense systems. However, testing these systems remains complex and resource-intensive, and DoD views programs like MACH-TB as essential for the United States to stay competitive.
