Kratos appoints Steve Fendley as senior vice president – general manager and chief technology officer of Kratos Unmanned Systems Division CEi business unit

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. of San Diego, CA announced on March 10 that Steve Fendley has been appointed as Senior Vice President – General Manager/Chief Technology Officer for Kratos Unmanned Systems Division’s (KUSD) Composite Engineering, Inc. (CEi) business unit.  In this senior leadership position, Mr. Fendley will be responsible for leading and managing the overall CEi business, including a strong focus on driving technology-based new platform growth, expanding CEi’s target drone systems portfolio and aircraft legacy, and driving KUSD’s unmanned tactical aerial system initiatives.

Mr. Fendley has held the Vice President of Engineering role for CEi, since early 2014.  During his time with CEi, Mr. Fendley has worked closely with the CEi/Kratos team in expanding the business’s unmanned systems capability beyond target systems and into tactical systems, as well as significantly enhancing the overall technical team capability, and the system performance of CEi’s unmanned aircraft portfolio.  Mr. Fendley has also been instrumental in Kratos’ Unmanned Tactical Aerial Platform (UTAP – 22) program, and in the current pursuit of certain new unmanned tactical aerial system opportunities of KUSD.

Since 1999, Mr. Fendley has served as President of 5-D Systems, Inc., a specialized technology focused defense contractor providing systems/software engineering services/solutions as well as SETA / A&AS support to U.S. Government customers, specializing in the unmanned drone systems area.  Mr. Fendley’s career has been focused on the development of unmanned and optionally-piloted aircraft and aerial systems; including both aerial targets and tactical unmanned aerial systems and vehicles.  Over his career, Mr. Fendley’s defense industry roles for various defense contractors, including Westinghouse, Tracor, Northrop Grumman, BAE Systems, 5-D Systems, and now CEi/Kratos; have spanned from electrical/systems engineering, engineering management, program management and executive management.

Jerry Beaman, President of Kratos Unmanned Systems Division, said, “We have been extremely fortunate to have Steve as part of CEi’s organization over the past few years, and in his new role as General Manager and Chief Technology Officer, Steve is now positioned to have an even greater impact on achieving our business objectives and successfully executing our overall strategy.  The entire KUSD Organization welcomes Steve to his new leadership position as we expand the CEi unmanned target drone business and successfully penetrate the tactical unmanned aerial systems market.”

Eric DeMarco, Kratos’ President & CEO, said, “I am extremely pleased to announce Steve’s promotion to Senior Vice President – General Manager and Chief Technology Officer for CEi, and a key member of the Kratos leadership team.  Kratos and 5-D Systems have had an important strategic relationship over the past several years, with Steve and 5-D significantly augmenting and enhancing our unmanned aerial aircraft’s engineering, design, development and overall system capabilities.  Steve’s deep experience in the UAS business, the resources he has brought or introduced to KUSD, coupled with his important unmanned system industry relationships, his passion for UAS technology and overall team leadership has been a critical element in the positioning of Kratos Unmanned Systems Division for future success.  Steve has been invaluable in Kratos’ successful unmanned tactical aerial system strategy and we would not have realized our recent and upcoming successes in the UAS area without him.”

Source: Kratos Defense & Security Solutions