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) |
| 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
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Drone Intelligence, Comparison. Compiled from public filings, company disclosures and specialist reporting. Last updated 25 June 2026.
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