Rafael, Kratos team to produce solid rocket motors as Prometheus Energetics
The two firms become the latest entrant in the solid rocket motor business, which has boomed since the war in Ukraine began.
ASHDOD, ISRAEL – JULY 08: The Iron Dome air-defense system fires to intercept a rocket over the city of Ashdod on July 8, 2014, in Ashdod, Israel. Due to recent escalation in the region, the Israeli army started new deployments at the border with the Gaza Strip. In the past 3 weeks more then 130 rockets where reportedly fired from Gaza into Israel. (Photo by Ilia Yefimovich/Getty Images)
JERUSALEM — Rafael, the Israeli company that makes Iron Dome, is creating a joint venture with US firm Kratos to produce solid rocket motors (SRMs).
The new venture, called Prometheus Energetics, seeks to cash in on the growing demand for SRMs, which help power munitions of all sizes, including the Iron Dome interceptors. The companies said in a Feb. 26 statement that they have selected a 500-acre site “near the United States Navy and Army facility in Crane, Indiana.”
Kratos and Rafael said Prometheus will be controlled in an “approximate 50/50 partnership.” The firms are investing $175 million in the new joint venture along with “required property, plant, equipment and personnel needed for the new, state-of-the-art energetics manufacturing campus and facilities.”
Production is expected to begin in 2027 after Rafael completes a technology transfer to Prometheus, with Eric DeMarco, Kratos president and CEO, saying in the statement that the company expects to provide “tens of thousands of SRMs and casted warheads” for both the US and Israel.
“We believe Prometheus, once up and running at full rate production, will be a step function catalyst in value creation for Kratos’ stakeholders and the U.S. defense industrial base,” added DeMarco.
Yoav Tourgeman, the president and CEO of Rafael, described the new investment as a “strategic leap forward” for Rafael and its “commitment to strengthening the U.S. defense industrial base while ensuring our allies and partners have access to the most advanced, combat-proven energetics solutions.”
Learn More: Who else is getting into the SRM business?
- Lockheed, General Dynamics to enter solid rocket motor market as partners
- Ursa Major takes aim at DoD solid rocket motor market
- Anduril ‘going after everything’ with new rocket motor business, Palmer Luckey says
He said the initiative taps business opportunities in the American market with “with the increasing demand for energetic products, while significantly enhancing our ability to deliver resilient and reliable supply solutions to our customers.” It will strengthen supply chain independence and bolster “critical capabilities needed to address evolving national security challenges,” he added.
This is the second joint venture of this type in the US for Rafael, after it established R2S with Raytheon to produce Tamir missile interceptors in East Camden, Arkansas. It fits into a broader effort by Israel to secure its supply chains for various weapons systems that were heavily used in the recent war, both by investing domestically and looking for partners abroad.
Both the Iron Dome interceptor and Rafael’s David’s Sling interceptor use solid rocket motors. David’s Sling has been sold to Finland and the US Marines have conducted live fire training integrating Tamir into the Medium Range Intercept Capability.
