WASHINGTON – Kratos Defense is expanding its footprint in Oklahoma with a new jet engine plant in Bristow- an investment state leaders say reinforces Oklahoma’s rising status as a national security hub.
The decision to build in Bristow, about 40 miles from Tulsa International Airport and 80 miles from Wiley Post Airport, was based on access to workforce, geography and leadership history within the existing Kratos site, according to Bristow Mayor Kris Wyatt. She said Bristow was one of three cities under consideration.
Claire Burghoff, a Kratos spokesperson, said Kratos, has had an excellent experience as an employer in the community.
“This is a major win for Oklahoma,” said Sen. Kristen Thompson (R, Edmond), the Senate Economic Development, Workforce, and Tourism Chair. “We’ve made targeted investments in research, development, and workforce to attract exactly this kind of advanced industry. The Bristow facility strengthens our national security footprint while delivering real economic opportunity to our communities.”
Thompson has championed policies that support high-tech growth sectors like aerospace, defense and manufacturing.
The advanced manufacturing site will produce jet engines for U.S. defense systems. Military aircraft engine technology is widely considered a qualitative edge for the United States- one that is enabled by an industrial base planting roots in Oklahoma.
The announcement was made on during the Oklahoma Breakfast in Paris ahead of the 2025 Paris Air Show, with Kratos CEO Eric DeMarco, Kratos Turbine Technologies President Stacey Rock, and Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt in attendance.
The San Diego-based, Nasdaq-listed defense contractor first touched base in Oklahoma City in 2018, using the space at Will Rogers Business Park to manufacture its “target” drones, which are advanced UAVs that can be programmed to mimic hostile aircraft and missiles.
They expanded this space in 2020 by 50%, and now uses over 150,000 square feet at the park. This location is now where the XQ-58 Valkyrie and MQM-178 Firejet drones are produced.
The Valkyrie is a UAV that operates much like a fighter aircraft and is designed to fly in tandem with a crewed fighter jet as a “loyal wingman.” Kratos pitched the aircraft, capable of long-range flights at high-subsonic speeds, for the U.S. Air Force’s $400 million Skyborg program, and was competing against legacy contractors General Atomics, Boeing and Northrop Grumman to fill the first orders.
Kratos established its initial presence in Bristow in 2021 by acquiring Consolidated Turbine Specialists, a local company, in 2019. Rather than being a UAV facility, however, it is an independent maintenance, repair and operations facility that is part of the Kratos Turbine Technology Division.
The 50,000-square-foot facility, located on 20 acres, is now expected to expand to 100,000 square feet and house up to five GE Aerospace-Kratos engine production lines with initial output of 500 engines annually for turbofan engine production.
The initial engine line is expected to create 60 jobs at the site, with key positions beginning recruitment in late 2025 and general hiring in Q1 2026. Each additional production line is expected to add approximately 45 new jobs. Both Oklahoma City and Bristow facilities are currently participating in the Quality Jobs Program, according to the Oklahoma Department of Commerce.
The facility will include three small engine test cells, which are expected to be operational in 2027, thanks to approved grant funding from the State of Oklahoma.
Burghoff said their uncrewed systems align right in the strikezone of the current climates where affordability and minimal risk to human life are paramount, and they also regularly test their platforms at Burns Flat.
Chase Horn, public information officer for the Oklahoma Department of Commerce,
said the new facility qualifies for several of the Oklahoma Commerce incentive and tax credit programs. These options were presented to the company as they considered sites and locations. He said commerce continues to work with the company to identify incentive opportunities with the state that would be a fit for this new project.
Horn added that commerce was actively involved in recruiting Kratos’ new project in Bristow.
“Commerce and other partners worked with both the company and Bristow community to make sure the needs of Kratos and city were aligned,” he said.
In 2023, Oklahoma lawmakers joined Kratos to celebrate the 100th MQM-178 Firejet high-performance jet powered target drone aircraft produced at their facility in Oklahoma City.
Kratos has several contracts from the Department of Defense, Air Force Research Laboratory, Office of the Secretary of Defense, U.S. Air Force, U.S. Marine Corps and international allies that are supported with Oklahoma facilities.
Horn said while Commerce has not had direct discussions with the military bases on this specific matter, their partners at Oklahoma CareerTech regularly work with all the bases where they also participate in events held for transitioning military personnel to the private sector after their service.
Gaylord News is a reporting project of the University of Oklahoma Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Communication. For more stories by Gaylord News go to GaylordNews.net.
