San Diego-based U.S. defense contractor Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. announced that it has recently received $19 million contract for the purchase of 21 high-performance jet target drones and spares.

As a part of one of the contracts, Kratos will also provide development engineering to enable key specific mission capability for that customer, the release states.

Currently, Kratos is a leading provider of state-of-the-art, high-performance aerial target drones.

Steve Fendley, President of Kratos Unmanned Systems Division, said, “To prepare for a forecasted growth in demand, Kratos Unmanned has invested in and expanded our production facilities over the past 12-18 months, allowing us to begin immediately fulfilling new orders even in these uncertain times. We are proud to continue supporting our Defense customers as critical infrastructure within the Defense Industrial Base. Upholding the nation’s security by helping our customers meet their critical needs while also protecting the safety and health of our employees is our top priority and will continue to be as we meet the increasing demand for our high-performance UAS.”

The company’s portfolio includes BQM-167A Air Force Subscale Aerial Target (AFSAT), BQM-177A Navy’s next-generation Sub-Sonic Aerial Target (SSAT) and MQM-178 Firejet.

These subscale targets are used for live weapon system evaluations and testing.