Kratos and Anduril are the two companies most associated with low-cost uncrewed combat aircraft, and the US Air Force's Collaborative Combat Aircraft programme has just sorted them onto different tracks. Kratos is the public pioneer, founded long before the attritable-aircraft idea was fashionable, whose XQ-58 Valkyrie proved the concept of a runway-independent jet built to be expendable. Anduril is the private $61 billion challenger whose YFQ-44A Fury, paired with its Lattice autonomy software, was selected alongside General Atomics for CCA Increment 1, the Air Force's production-representative competition, while the Valkyrie was not. Kratos did not exit the mission so much as redirect it: with Northrop Grumman it won the US Marine Corps MUX TACAIR collaborative combat aircraft effort, an Other Transaction Agreement with an initial value of $231.5 million. One company owns the Air Force's first CCA increment; the other anchors the Marine Corps programme.
Side By Side
| Kratos Defense & Security Solutions | Anduril Industries | |
|---|---|---|
| Founded | 1994 | 2017 |
| Headquarters | San Diego, California, USA | Costa Mesa, California, USA |
| Status | Public (NASDAQ: KTOS) | Private; $61B valuation (May 2026); reportedly in talks for a new round at approximately $100 billion as of late July 2026, not yet closed |
| Flagship Combat Aircraft | XQ-58 Valkyrie | YFQ-44A Fury |
| USAF CCA Increment 1 | Not selected | Selected (with General Atomics) |
| Marine Corps CCA | MUX TACAIR with Northrop Grumman ($231.5M initial OTA) | Not a participant |
| Autonomy Software | Integrates partner autonomy (Northrop on MUX) | Lattice, in-house |
| Heritage | Attritable-jet and target-drone pioneer (also BQM-167, Firejet) | Software-defined hardware insurgent |
| Business Model | Public defence contractor; in-house Spartan turbojet propulsion | Vertically integrated, venture-funded |
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TWO TRACKS THROUGH THE CCA PROGRAMME
The Air Force's CCA Increment 1 decision is the cleanest divider between these companies. Anduril's Fury was selected with General Atomics to build production-representative test articles, putting Anduril inside the Air Force's primary uncrewed-wingman programme from the start. Kratos's Valkyrie, the aircraft that arguably created the category, was not chosen for that increment, a notable outcome for the incumbent attritable-jet specialist.
Kratos's response was to anchor a different service. With Northrop Grumman it was competitively selected for the Marine Corps MUX TACAIR collaborative combat aircraft effort, integrating Northrop's autonomy with the Valkyrie airframe under a $231.5 million initial Other Transaction Agreement, with first aircraft expected later in the decade. The result is that the two companies are no longer bidding the same requirement: Anduril holds the Air Force's Increment 1, Kratos holds the Marine Corps track, and the head-to-head has become a question of which service's architecture a supplier or partner wants to align with.
INCUMBENT HARDWARE VERSUS SOFTWARE-DEFINED CHALLENGER
The deeper contrast is in where each company believes the value sits. Kratos's heritage is the airframe and the propulsion: it pioneered the runway-independent attritable jet, builds its own Spartan turbojet to control the propulsion bottleneck, and supplies the broader target-drone and tactical-UAS base that funds the business. Its autonomy on CCA comes through partners such as Northrop.
Drone Intelligence assessment: Anduril's bet is that the autonomy software is the durable asset and the airframe is increasingly a commodity, which is why Fury ships with Lattice and why Anduril prices itself as a software-defined company rather than an aircraft manufacturer. The CCA programme will test both theses directly. If the Air Force's architecture rewards the in-house autonomy stack, Anduril's vertical model compounds; if it rewards proven low-cost airframes and propulsion at volume, Kratos's two-decade head start in attritable hardware re-asserts itself through the Marine Corps track and the wider attritable fleet.
When To Choose
Choose Kratos Defense & Security Solutions if:
- Proven low-cost attritable airframes and in-house propulsion at volume
- Alignment with the US Marine Corps MUX TACAIR collaborative combat aircraft track
- A publicly traded supplier with a broad target-drone and tactical-UAS base
Choose Anduril Industries if:
- Alignment with the US Air Force CCA Increment 1 architecture
- An in-house autonomy stack (Lattice) bundled with the airframe
- A vertically integrated software-defined approach to uncrewed combat aircraft
Full Profiles
Kratos Defense & Security Solutions
Round Rock, Texas, USA · NASDAQ: KTOS
Diversified US defence supplier whose unmanned-aircraft business includes jet-powered target drones and the Valkyrie tactical aircraft.
View profile →Anduril Industries
Costa Mesa, California, USA · Private
Defence technology company building autonomous platforms and the Lattice AI command-and-control platform. The most heavily capitalised non-traditional defence firm in the US.
View profile →Sources & References
ABOUT THIS COMPARISON
- Prepared by
- Drone Intelligence
- Last updated
- 14 October 2026
- Sources
- 5 sources, listed above
- Status
- Figures are attributed to the sources listed above. Where the verdict is our own assessment, the text says so.
- Corrections
- Email editor@droneintelligence.ai with the page URL and the source you believe contradicts the claim.
Prepared under the Drone Intelligence methodology. Editorial decisions follow our editorial policy. Independence and disclosure standards at ethics.
CITE AS
“Kratos vs Anduril” Drone Intelligence, 14 October 2026. https://droneintelligence.ai/compare/kratos-vs-anduril
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Drone Intelligence, Comparison. Compiled from public filings, company disclosures and specialist reporting. Last updated 14 October 2026.
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