Kratos unveils Thanatos unmanned aerial vehicle

Artist's concept of the Kratos Thanatos UAV. (Kratos)

Kratos Defense and Space has unveiled an image of its Thanatos unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) but declined to provide further information about the concept or its potential uses.

“Among the new opportunities we are pursuing, we are in discussions with a customer and hope to be under contract next year related to certain other Kratos tactical drone systems, including Thanatos,” said Kratos president and CEO Eric DeMarco on a 2 November call with investors.

An artist's concept of the vehicle accompanied the presentation, showing a tailless UAV, painted black, with Kratos' logo and a small US Air Force (USAF) decal.

DeMarco did not mention the name of the potential client nor the role in which the UAV might be employed. Kratos declined to provide additional information.

Kratos is known primarily for its air targets and the XQ-58A Valkyrie UAV. The XQ-58, though used by the USAF and US Marine Corps to test artificial intelligence and related concepts of operations, does not have a combat role.