Form 424B5 - Prospectus [Rule 424(b)(5)]

Filed Pursuant to Rule 424(b)(5)

Registration Statement No. 333-277222

Prospectus supplement

(to prospectus dated February 21, 2024)

16,666,667 Shares

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc.

Common Stock

We are offering 16,666,667 shares of our common stock, par value $0.001 per share, pursuant to this prospectus supplement and the accompanying prospectus. Our common stock is traded on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol “KTOS.” On February 22, 2024, the last reported sale price of our common stock on the Nasdaq Global Select Market was $18.78 per share.

Investing in our common stock involves a high degree of risk. Please read “Risk Factors” beginning on page S-8 of this prospectus supplement, on page 4 of the accompanying prospectus and in the documents incorporated or deemed incorporated by reference into this prospectus supplement before investing in our common stock.

Neither the Securities and Exchange Commission nor any state securities commission has approved or disapproved of these securities or determined if this prospectus supplement or the accompanying prospectus is truthful or complete. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense.


	Per share		Total
Public Offering Price	$	18.00	$	300,000,006
Underwriting Discounts and Commissions	$	0.72	$	12,000,000
Proceeds to Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. before expenses	$	17.28	$	288,000,006

We have granted the underwriters an option for a period of 30 days to purchase up to an additional 2,500,000 shares of our common stock. If the underwriters exercise the option in full, the total public offering price will be $345,000,006, the total underwriting discounts and commissions payable by us will be $13,800,000, and our total proceeds, before expenses, will be $331,200,006.

The underwriters expect to deliver the common stock in book-entry form only, through the facilities of The Depository Trust Company, against payment in immediately available funds on or about February 27, 2024.

Baird

RBC Capital Markets

Truist Securities

B. Riley Securities

Raymond James

The Benchmark Company

Noble Capital Markets

Prospectus Supplement dated February 22, 2024

TABLE OF CONTENTS


			Page
PROSPECTUS SUPPLEMENT
ABOUT THIS PROSPECTUS SUPPLEMENT			S-1
TRADEMARKS, SERVICE MARKS AND COPYRIGHTS			S-2
PROSPECTUS SUPPLEMENT SUMMARY			S-3
RISK FACTORS			S-8
SPECIAL NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION			S-11
USE OF PROCEEDS			S-13
DIVIDEND POLICY			S-14
MATERIAL UNITED STATES FEDERAL INCOME TAX CONSIDERATIONS FOR NON-U.S. HOLDERS			S-15
CERTAIN ERISA CONSIDERATIONS			S-18
UNDERWRITING			S-20
VALIDITY OF SECURITIES			S-28
EXPERTS			S-28
WHERE YOU CAN FIND ADDITIONAL INFORMATION			S-28
INCORPORATION OF CERTAIN DOCUMENTS BY REFERENCE			S-29

PROSPECTUS
ABOUT THIS PROSPECTUS			1
SUMMARY			2
RISK FACTORS			4
FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS			5
USE OF PROCEEDS			6
SELLING SECURITY HOLDERS			7
PLAN OF DISTRIBUTION			8
DESCRIPTION OF CAPITAL STOCK			10
DESCRIPTION OF DEBT SECURITIES			14
DESCRIPTION OF WARRANTS			22
DESCRIPTION OF RIGHTS			24
DESCRIPTION OF UNITS			25
LEGAL OWNERSHIP OF SECURITIES			27
LEGAL MATTERS			31
EXPERTS			31
WHERE YOU CAN FIND ADDITIONAL INFORMATION			31
INCORPORATION OF CERTAIN INFORMATION BY REFERENCE			32

ABOUT THIS PROSPECTUS SUPPLEMENT

This prospectus supplement and the accompanying prospectus are part of an automatic shelf registration statement that we filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), as a “well-known seasoned issuer” as defined in Rule 405 under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), utilizing a “shelf” registration process. This document is in two parts. The first part is this prospectus supplement, including the documents incorporated by reference, which describes the specific terms of this offering. The second part, the accompanying prospectus, including the documents incorporated by reference, provides more general information. Generally, when we refer to this prospectus, we are referring to both parts of this document combined. We urge you to carefully read this prospectus supplement and the accompanying prospectus, and the documents incorporated by reference herein and therein, before buying any of the securities being offered under this prospectus supplement. This prospectus supplement may add to or update information contained in the accompanying prospectus and the documents incorporated by reference therein. To the extent that any statement we make in this prospectus supplement is inconsistent with statements made in the accompanying prospectus or any documents incorporated by reference therein that were filed before the date of this prospectus supplement, the statements made in this prospectus supplement will be deemed to modify or supersede those made in the accompanying prospectus and such documents incorporated by reference therein.

You should rely only on the information contained in this prospectus supplement and the accompanying prospectus, or incorporated by reference herein or therein. Neither we nor the underwriters (nor any of their affiliates) have authorized anyone to provide you with different information. No underwriter, dealer, salesperson or other person, including us, has authorized anyone to give you any information or to represent anything not contained in this prospectus supplement and the accompanying prospectus. You should not rely on any unauthorized information or representation. Neither we nor the underwriters (nor any of their affiliates) take any responsibility for, or can provide any assurance as to the reliability of, any information other than the information contained in this prospectus supplement and the accompanying prospectus, or incorporated herein or therein. This prospectus supplement is an offer to sell only the securities offered hereby and only under circumstances and in jurisdictions where it is lawful to do so. You should assume that the information in this prospectus supplement and the accompanying prospectus is accurate only as of the date on the front of the applicable document and that any information we have incorporated by reference is accurate only as of the date of the document incorporated by reference, regardless of the date of delivery of this prospectus supplement or the accompanying prospectus, or any sale of a security. Our business, financial condition, liquidity, results of operations and prospects may have changed since those dates.

Unless otherwise mentioned or unless the context requires otherwise, all references in this prospectus to “the Company,” “we,” “us,” “our” and “Kratos” refer to Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc., a Delaware corporation, and its consolidated subsidiaries.

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TRADEMARKS, SERVICE MARKS AND COPYRIGHTS

We own or have rights to trademarks, service marks or trade names that we use in connection with the operation of our business. We also own or have the rights to copyrights that protect the content of our products. Solely for convenience, the trademarks, service marks, tradenames and copyrights referred to in this prospectus supplement are listed without the ©, ® and ™ symbols, but we will assert, to the fullest extent under applicable law, our rights or the rights of the applicable licensors to these trademarks, service marks and trade names.

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PROSPECTUS SUPPLEMENT SUMMARY

This summary is not complete and does not contain all of the information that you should consider before investing in the securities offered by this prospectus supplement. You should read this summary together with the entire prospectus supplement and the accompanying prospectus, including our consolidated financial statements, the notes to those consolidated financial statements, our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2023, (“the “Annual Report”), and the other documents that are incorporated by reference in this prospectus supplement and the accompanying prospectus, before making an investment decision. See “Risk Factors” beginning on page S-8 of this prospectus supplement for a discussion of the risks involved in investing in our securities.

Our Business

Kratos is a technology, products, system and software company addressing the defense, national security, and commercial markets. Kratos makes true internally funded research, development, capital and other investments, to rapidly develop, produce and field solutions that address our customers’ mission critical needs and requirements. At Kratos, affordability is a technology, and we seek to utilize proven, leading edge approaches and technology, not unproven bleeding edge approaches or technology, with Kratos’ approach designed to reduce cost, schedule and risk, enabling us to be first to market with cost effective solutions. We believe that Kratos is known as the innovative disruptive change agent in the industry, a company that is an expert in designing products and systems up front for successful rapid, large quantity, low cost future manufacturing which is a value add competitive differentiator for our large traditional prime system integrator partners and also to our government and commercial customers. Kratos intends to pursue program and contract opportunities as the prime or lead contractor when we believe our probability of win is high and any investment required by Kratos is within our capital resource comfort level. We intend to partner and team with a large, traditional system integrator when our assessment of probability of win is greater or required investment is beyond Kratos comfort level. Kratos’ primary business areas include, virtualized ground systems for satellites and space vehicles including software for command & control (C2) and telemetry, tracking and control (TT&C), jet powered unmanned aerial drone systems, hypersonic vehicles and rocket systems, propulsion systems for drones, missiles, loitering munitions, supersonic systems, space craft and launch systems, command, control, communication, computing, combat, intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance (C5ISR) and microwave electronic products for missile, radar, missile defense, space, satellite, counter unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), directed energy, communication and other systems, and virtual & augmented reality training systems for the warfighter.

We believe that our technology, intellectual property, proprietary products, reputation and designed-in positions on our customers’ programs, platforms and systems, and our ability to rapidly develop, demonstrate and field affordable leading technology systems gives us a competitive advantage and creates a high barrier to entry into our markets. Our workforce is primarily engineering and technically oriented with a significant number of employees holding National Security clearances. Much of our work is performed at customer locations, facilities and sites, or in secure manufacturing and other facilities. Our primary end customers are National Security related agencies and large national and global commercial enterprises and entities. Our entire organization is focused on executing our strategy of being the leading technology and intellectual property based product and system company and being “first to market” in each of our industry leading core competency areas.

Our Corporate Information

We were initially incorporated in the state of New York in 1994 and began operations in March 1995. We reincorporated in the state of Delaware in 1998. On September 12, 2007, we changed our name from Wireless Facilities, Inc. to Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. Our principal executive offices are located at 1 Chisholm Trail, Suite 3200, Round Rock, Texas 78681, and our telephone number is (512) 238-9840. We maintain an Internet website at www.kratosdefense.com. We have included our website address in this prospectus supplement solely as an inactive textual reference. We do not incorporate the information on, or accessible through, our website into this prospectus supplement, and you should not consider any information on or accessible through our website as part of this prospectus supplement.

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THE OFFERING


Issuer			Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc.
Common stock offered by us			16,666,667 shares of our common stock (or 19,166,667 shares of our common stock if the underwriters exercise their option to purchase additional shares in full).
Common stock outstanding after this offering			146,664,108 shares of our common stock (or 149,164,108 shares of our common stock if the underwriters exercise their option to purchase additional shares in full).
Option to purchase additional shares			2,500,000 shares of our common stock.
Use of proceeds			We expect the net proceeds from this offering will be approximately $288.0 million (or $331.2 million if the underwriters exercise their option to purchase additional shares in full) after deducting underwriting discounts and commissions, as described in “Underwriting,” and estimated offering expenses payable by us. We expect to use the net proceeds to facilitate our long-term strategy, including potential investment in facilities, expanding manufacturing capacity, anticipated capital expenditures for expansion of current sole-source/single award programs and high probability pipeline opportunities, further strengthen our balance sheet in anticipation of upcoming customer and partner decisions and source selection on additional large, new program and contract opportunities, for general corporate purposes, including paydown of debt, and to pay fees and expenses in connection with the offering. See “Use of Proceeds.”
Dividend policy			We currently intend to retain any future earnings to finance the growth and development of the business and, therefore, do not anticipate paying any cash dividends in the foreseeable future. In addition, our ability to pay dividends is restricted by the terms of the agreements governing our debt. Any future determination to pay cash dividends or engage in stock buybacks will be at the discretion of our board of directors and will be dependent upon our future financial condition, results of operations and capital requirements, general business conditions and other relevant factors as determined by our board of directors.
Nasdaq Global Select Market symbol			“KTOS”
Risk factors			This investment involves a high degree of risk. See “Risk Factors” beginning on page S-8 of this prospectus supplement, on page 4 of the accompanying prospectus and in the documents incorporated by reference into this prospectus supplement for a discussion of factors you should carefully consider before deciding to invest in our common stock.

The number of shares of our common stock to be outstanding immediately after the closing of this offering is based on 129,997,441 shares of common stock outstanding as of February 9, 2024 and excludes, as of that date:

•7,943,023 shares of common stock available for future grant under our 2023 Employee Stock Purchase Plan and our 2023 Equity Incentive Plan; and

•6,393,887 shares of common stock issuable upon the vesting and settlement of restricted stock units.

Unless otherwise indicated, this prospectus supplement reflects and assumes no exercise by the underwriters of their option to purchase additional shares from us.

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SUMMARY CONSOLIDATED HISTORICAL FINANCIAL DATA

The following table sets forth a summary of our consolidated historical financial data as of the dates and for each of the periods indicated. The consolidated historical financial data for the years ended December 31, 2023, December 25, 2022, and December 26, 2021 and as of December 31, 2023 and December 25, 2022 is derived from our audited consolidated financial statements, which are incorporated by reference into this prospectus supplement. The consolidated historical financial data as of December 26, 2021 has been derived from our audited consolidated financial statements not included or incorporated by reference herein. The historical results presented below are not necessarily indicative of results that can be expected for any future period and should be read in conjunction with the sections entitled “Use of Proceeds,” included elsewhere in this prospectus supplement, as well as “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations,” appearing in Item 7 of our Annual Report and our audited and unaudited consolidated financial statements incorporated by reference herein. See “Where You Can Find Additional Information.”


	Fiscal year ended
	December 31, 2023		December 25, 2022		December 26, 2021
	(in millions, except per share data)
Statement of Operations:
Service revenues	$	402.6	$	325.2	$	219.4
Product sales	634.5		573.1		592.1
Total revenue	1,037.1		898.3		811.5
Cost of service revenues	303.2		239.0		156.2
Cost of product sales	465.3		433.3		430.2
Total costs	768.5		672.3		586.4
Gross profit	268.6		226.0		225.1
Selling, general and administrative expenses	197.8		182.5		160.2
Merger and acquisition related items	0.4		0.7		1.8
Research and development expenses	38.4		38.6		35.2
Restructuring expenses and other	0.9		6.8		—
Operating income (loss)	31.1		(2.6)		27.9
Other expense
Interest expense, net	(20.5)		(17.7)		(23.4)
Loss on extinguishment of debt	—		(13.0)		—
Other income (expense), net	0.5		0.6		(0.1)
Total other expense, net	(20.0)		(30.1)		(23.5)
Income (loss) from continuing operations before income taxes	11.1		(32.7)		4.4
Provision (benefit) for income taxes from continuing operations	8.9		1.4		3.9
Income (loss) from continuing operations	2.2		(34.1)		0.5
Discontinued operations
Loss from operations of discontinued component	—		(0.3)		(2.3)
Income tax expense (benefit)	(0.2)		(1.2)		(0.2)
Income (loss) from discontinued operations	0.2		0.9		(2.1)
Net income (loss)	2.4		(33.2)		(1.6)
Less: Net income attributable to noncontrolling interest	11.3		3.7		0.4
Net loss attributable to Kratos	$	(8.9)	$	(36.9)	$	(2.0)
Basic income (loss) per common share attributable to Kratos
Income (loss) from continuing operations	$	(0.07)	$	(0.30)	$	0.00
Income (loss) from discontinued operations	—		0.01		(0.02)

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Net loss per common share	$	(0.07)	$	(0.29)	$	(0.02)
Diluted income and (loss) per common share attributable to Kratos
Income (loss) from continuing operations	$	(0.07)	$	(0.30)	$	0.00
Income (loss) from discontinued operations	—		0.01		(0.02)
Net loss per common share	$	(0.07)	$	(0.29)	$	(0.02)
Weighted average common shares outstanding
Basic	130.4		126.7		124.6
Diluted	130.4		126.7		128.0
Balance Sheet Data (at period end) and Other Data:
Cash and cash equivalents	$	72.8	$	81.3	$	349.4
Property, plant and equipment, net	243.6		213.1		168.3
Total assets	1,632.5		1,551.5		1,589.5
Long-term debt	219.3		250.2		296.7
Total stockholders’ equity	976.0		936.3		945.1
Depreciation and amortization	33.2		30.5		25.7
Capital expenditures	52.4		45.4		46.5
Other Financial Data:
Adjusted EBITDA(1)	$	95.4	$	70.7	$	82.9

__________________

(1)As presented in the tables above and below, Adjusted EBITDA is a non-U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”) financial measure, and is defined as GAAP net income (loss) attributable to Kratos adjusted for net income attributable to noncontrolling interest, income from discontinued operations, net interest expense, provision for income taxes, depreciation and amortization expense of intangible assets, amortization of capitalized contract and development costs, stock-based compensation, acquisition and restructuring related items and other, and foreign transaction loss (gain).

Adjusted EBITDA as calculated by us may be calculated differently than Adjusted EBITDA for other companies. We have provided Adjusted EBITDA because we believe it is a commonly used measure of financial performance in comparable companies and is provided to help investors evaluate companies on a consistent basis, as well as to enhance understanding of our operating results. Adjusted EBITDA should not be construed as either an alternative to net income (loss) or as an indicator of our operating performance or an alternative to cash flows as a measure of liquidity. The adjustments to calculate this non-GAAP financial measure and the basis for such adjustments are outlined below. Please refer to the following table below that reconciles GAAP net loss to Adjusted EBITDA.

Adjusted EBITDA is not a recognized term under GAAP and should not be considered as an alternative to loss from continuing operations or other measures of financial performance or liquidity derived in accordance with GAAP. Adjusted EBITDA has limitations as an analytical tool and should not be considered either in isolation or as a substitute for loss from continuing operations, cash flow or other methods of analyzing our results as reported under GAAP. Some of these limitations are:

•Adjusted EBITDA does not reflect changes in, or cash requirements for, our working capital needs;

•Adjusted EBITDA does not reflect our interest expense, or the cash requirements necessary to service interest or principal payments, on our indebtedness;

•Adjusted EBITDA does not reflect our tax expense or the cash requirements to pay our taxes;

•Adjusted EBITDA does not reflect historical cash expenditures or future requirements for capital expenditures or contractual commitments;

•Adjusted EBITDA does not reflect the effect on earnings or changes resulting from matters that we consider not to be indicative of our future operations;

S-6

•although depreciation and amortization are non-cash charges, the assets being depreciated and amortized will often have to be replaced in the future, and Adjusted EBITDA does not reflect any cash requirements for such replacements; and

•other companies in our industry may calculate Adjusted EBITDA differently, limiting its usefulness as a comparative measure.

Because of these limitations, Adjusted EBITDA should not be considered as discretionary cash available to us to reinvest in the growth of our business or as a measure of cash that will be available to us to meet our obligations.

The following table reconciles our Net income (loss) attributable to Kratos to Adjusted EBITDA for the periods presented:


	Fiscal year ended
	December 31, 2023		December 25, 2022		December 26, 2021
	(in millions)
Net loss attributable to Kratos	$	(8.9)	$	(36.9)	$	(2.0)
Income (loss) from discontinued operations, net of income taxes	(0.2)		(0.9)		2.1
Interest expense, net	20.5		17.7		23.4
Loss on extinguishment of debt	—		13.0		—
Provision for income taxes from continuing operations	8.9		1.4		3.9
Depreciation (including cost of service revenues and product sales)	26.4		23.1		21.0
Stock-based compensation(a)	25.3		26.3		25.8
Foreign transaction loss(b)	1.7		0.1		0.8
Amortization of intangible assets(c)	6.8		7.4		4.7
Amortization of capitalized contract and development costs(d)	2.3		1.3		1.0
Acquisition and restructuring related costs and other(e)	1.3		14.5		1.8
Plus: Net income attributable to noncontrolling interest	11.3		3.7		0.4
Adjusted EBITDA	$	95.4	$	70.7	$	82.9

__________________

(a)Stock-based compensation expense represents non-cash compensation charges related to the issuance of equity awards to certain employees and directors.

(b)Includes transaction gains and losses related to transactions with foreign customers in currencies other than the U.S. dollar. In addition, certain intercompany transactions can give rise to realized and unrealized foreign currency gains and losses.

(c)Includes amortization of intangible assets related to past acquisitions.

(d)Includes amortization of previously capitalized software development and non-recurring engineering costs related to certain targets in our Unmanned Systems and ballistic missile target businesses as these units are sold.

(e)Includes transaction related costs, such as legal and accounting fees and other expenses, related to acquisitions and divestiture activities. Also includes excess capacity and restructuring costs related to cost reduction actions which include employee termination costs, facility shut-down related costs and remaining lease commitment costs for excess or exited facilities. Management believes these items are outside the normal operations of the Company’s business and are not indicative of ongoing operating results.

S-7

RISK FACTORS

An investment in our common stock involves a substantial risk of loss. You should carefully consider the following risk factors and all other information contained herein as well as the information included or incorporated by reference in this prospectus supplement and the accompanying prospectus before you decide to invest in our common stock. The occurrence of any of the following risks could harm our business. In that case, the trading price of our common stock could decline, and you may lose all or part of your investment. Additional risks and uncertainties not presently known to us or that we currently deem immaterial may also impair our operations. You should also refer to the other information contained in this prospectus supplement and the accompanying prospectus or incorporated by reference herein or therein, including our financial statements and the notes to those statements, as well as the information contained in our Annual Report which is incorporated by reference herein, and the information set forth under the heading “Special Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information.” Furthermore, to the extent the COVID-19 pandemic adversely affects our business, operations, financial condition and operating results, it may also have the effect of heightening many of the other risks described in this “Risk Factors” section (including those described in our Annual Report which is incorporated by reference in this prospectus supplement), such as those relating to our indebtedness, our need to generate sufficient cash flows to service our indebtedness, and our ability to comply with the covenants contained in the agreements that govern our indebtedness.

Risks Related to Investments in Our Securities

We may allocate the net proceeds from this offering in ways that you and other stockholders may not approve.

We expect to use the net proceeds to facilitate our long-term strategy, including potential investment in facilities, expanding manufacturing capacity, anticipated capital expenditures for expansion of current sole-source/single award programs and high probability pipeline opportunities, further strengthen our balance sheet in anticipation of upcoming customer and partner decisions and source selection on additional large, new program and contract opportunities, for general corporate purposes, including paydown of debt, and to pay fees and expenses in connection with the offering. In general, our management will have broad discretion in the application of the net proceeds from this offering and could spend the net proceeds in ways that do not necessarily improve our operating results or enhance the value of our common stock.

Our stock price may be volatile, and your investment in our stock could suffer a decline in value.

The market price of our common stock may fluctuate significantly, and you may not be able to resell your shares at or above the price at which you purchased your shares. Factors which could have a significant impact on the market price of our common stock include, but are not limited to, the following, most of which we cannot control:

•quarterly variations in operating results;

•changes in preference by our customers;

•announcements of new services or products or significant price reductions by us or our competitors or other actions by our competitors;

•the gain or loss of significant customers;

•stock price performance or changes in the market valuations of our competitors;

•changes in analysts’ earnings estimates or publication of research reports about our industry;

•rumors or dissemination of false information;

•default on our indebtedness;

•changes in our senior management or key personnel;

S-8

•pricing pressures;

•fluctuations in stock market prices and volumes;

•short selling of our common stock;

•litigation and government inquiries;

•general conditions in the market;

•the extent and duration of any pandemics or other public health risks such as COVID-19;

•political and/or military events associated with current worldwide conflicts; and

•events affecting other companies that investors deem comparable to us.

These and other external factors may cause the market price and demand for our common stock to fluctuate substantially, which may limit or prevent investors from readily selling their shares of common stock and may otherwise negatively affect the liquidity of our common stock. Volatility in the market price of our common stock could also subject us to securities class action litigation.

Future sales of our common stock could cause the market price for our common stock to decline.

We cannot predict the effect, if any, that market sales of shares of our common stock or the availability of shares of our common stock for sale will have on the market price of our common stock prevailing from time to time. Sales of substantial amounts of shares of our common stock in the public market, or the perception that those sales will occur, could cause the market price of our common stock to decline or be depressed.

The shares of common stock issued in connection with this offering will be freely tradable without restriction or further registration under the Securities Act.

In connection with this offering, we and our directors and executive officers have agreed with the underwriters to a “lock-up”, pursuant to which neither we nor they will sell, hedge or otherwise dispose of any shares without the prior written consent of Robert W. Baird & Co. Incorporated for 90 days after the date of this prospectus supplement, subject to certain exceptions. Following the expiration of the applicable lock-up period, all these shares of our common stock will also be eligible for future sale.

In the future, we may issue our securities if we need to raise capital in connection with a capital expenditure, working capital requirement or acquisition. The amount of shares of our common stock issued in connection with a capital expenditure, working capital requirement or acquisition could constitute a material portion of our then-outstanding shares of common stock. Any perceived excess in the supply of our shares in the market could negatively impact our share price and any issuance of additional securities in connection with investments or acquisitions may result in additional dilution to you.

We do not expect to pay any cash dividends or buyback any Kratos stock for the foreseeable future.

We have not declared any cash dividends since becoming a public company. We currently intend to retain any future earnings to finance the growth and development of the business and, therefore, we do not anticipate that we will pay any cash dividends on shares of our common stock in the foreseeable future. In addition, our ability to pay dividends and buyback Kratos stock is restricted by the New Credit Facility. Any determination to pay dividends or stock buybacks in the future will be at the discretion of our board of directors and will be dependent upon our future financial condition, results of operations and capital requirements, general business conditions and other relevant factors as determined by our board of directors. Accordingly, if you purchase shares in this offering, realization of a gain on your investment will depend on the appreciation of the price of our common stock, which may never occur. Investors seeking cash dividends in the foreseeable future should not purchase our common stock. See “Dividend Policy.”

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If securities or industry analysts do not publish research or publish inaccurate or unfavorable research about our business, our stock price and any trading volume could decline.

The trading market for our securities depends in part on the research and reports that industry or financial analysts publish about us or our business. We do not influence or control the reporting of these analysts. If one or more of the analysts who do cover us downgrade or provide a negative outlook on our company or our industry, or the stock of any of our competitors, the price of our common stock could decline. If one or more of these analysts ceases coverage of our company, we could lose visibility in the market, which in turn could cause the price of our common stock to decline.

S-10

SPECIAL NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION

This prospectus supplement, the accompanying prospectus and the documents incorporated by reference herein and therein contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), and the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other important factors that may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performances or achievements expressed in or implied by the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements may include, but are not limited to, statements relating to our future financial performance, the growth of the market for our services, expansion plans and opportunities and statements regarding our intended uses of the proceeds of the securities offered hereby. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terminology such as “may,” “will,” “should,” “expect,” “plan,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “predict,” “potential,” or “continue,” the negative of such terms or other comparable terminology.

These forward-looking statements contained in or incorporated by reference into this prospectus supplement reflect our current beliefs, expectations and projections, are based on assumptions, and are subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause our actual results or achievements to differ materially from any future results or achievements expressed in or implied by our forward-looking statements, including the factors listed below. Many of these factors are beyond our ability to control or predict. As a result, you should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The most important risks and uncertainties that could cause our actual results or achievements to differ materially from the results or achievements expressed in or implied by our forward-looking statements, include, but are not limited to:

•changes, cutbacks or delays in spending by the U.S. Department of Defense may occur which could cause delays or cancellations of key government contracts;

•delays to or the cancellation of our projects as a result of protest actions submitted by our competitors;

•changes in federal government (or other applicable) procurement laws, regulations, policies and budgets;

•the availability of government funding for the Company’s products and services due to performance, cost growth, or other factors;

•changes in government and customer priorities and requirements;

•the potential of the current economic environment to adversely impact our business; currently unforeseen risks associated with COVID-19 or any other public health crisis;

•risks related to natural disasters or severe weather;

•changes in the scope or timing of our projects;

•the timing, rescheduling or cancellation of significant customer contracts and agreements, or consolidation by or the loss of key customers; risks of adverse regulatory action or litigation;

•risks associated with debt leverage;

•failure to successfully achieve our integration, cost reduction or divestiture strategies;

•risks related to security breaches, cybersecurity attacks or other significant disruptions of our information systems;

•competition in the marketplace, which could reduce revenues and profit margins;

•risks of adverse regulatory action or litigation;

•risks that potential future goodwill impairments will adversely affect our operating results;

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•risks that anticipated tax benefits will not be realized in accordance with our expectations; and

•risks that a change in ownership of our stock could cause further limitation to the future utilization of our net operating loss carryforwards.

The forward-looking statements contained in this prospectus supplement reflect our views and assumptions only as of the date of this prospectus supplement. You should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Except as required by law, we assume no responsibility for updating any forward-looking statements nor do we intend to do so. Our actual results, performance or achievements could differ materially from the results expressed in, or implied by, these forward-looking statements. The risks included in this section are not exhaustive. There may be other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements, including those described in the sections entitled “Risk Factors” beginning on page S-8, “Risk Factors” appearing in Item 1A of our Annual Report incorporated herein by reference, and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” appearing in Item 7 of our Annual Report incorporated herein by reference.

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USE OF PROCEEDS

We expect the net proceeds from this offering to be approximately $288.0 million (or $331.2 million if the underwriters exercise their option to purchase additional shares in full), after deducting underwriting discounts and commissions, as described in “Underwriting,” and estimated offering expenses payable by us. We expect to use the net proceeds to facilitate our long-term strategy, including potential investment in facilities, expanding manufacturing capacity, anticipated capital expenditures for expansion of current sole-source/single award programs and high probability pipeline opportunities, further strengthen our balance sheet in anticipation of upcoming customer and partner decisions and source selection on additional large, new program and contract opportunities, for general corporate purposes, including paydown of debt, and to pay fees and expenses in connection with the offering.

As of the date of this prospectus supplement, we cannot specify with certainty all of the particular uses of the proceeds from this offering. Accordingly, we will retain broad discretion over the use of such proceeds. Pending the use of the net proceeds from this offering as described above, we intend to invest the net proceeds in short-term, investment-grade securities.

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DIVIDEND POLICY

We have not declared any cash dividends since becoming a public company. We currently intend to retain any future earnings to finance the growth and development of the business and, therefore, do not anticipate paying any cash dividends in the foreseeable future. In addition, our ability to pay dividends is restricted by our Credit Agreement, as discussed in the section entitled “Liquidity and Capital Resources” in Item 7 “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and Note 5 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements contained in our Annual Report incorporated herein by reference. Any future determination to pay cash dividends will be at the discretion of our board of directors and will be dependent upon our future financial condition, results of operations and capital requirements, general business conditions and other relevant factors as determined by our board of directors.

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MATERIAL UNITED STATES FEDERAL INCOME TAX CONSIDERATIONS FOR NON-U.S. HOLDERS

The following is a summary of the material U.S. federal income tax considerations relevant to the purchase, ownership and disposition of our common stock by a non-U.S. holder (as defined below). This summary deals only with non-U.S. holders that acquire our common stock in this offering and hold the common stock as a capital asset within the meaning of Section 1221 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”) (generally, property held for investment).

For purposes of this summary, a “non-U.S. holder” means a beneficial owner of our common stock (other than an entity or arrangement treated as a partnership for U.S. federal income tax purposes) that is not any of the following for U.S. federal income tax purposes: (i) an individual citizen or resident of the U.S.; (ii) a corporation (or other entity treated as a corporation) created or organized in or under the laws of the U.S., any state thereof, or the District of Columbia; (iii) an estate the income of which is subject to U.S. federal income taxation regardless of its source; or (iv) a trust if (1) its administration is subject to the primary supervision of a court within the U.S. and one or more U.S. persons have the authority to control all of its substantial decisions, or (2) it has a valid election in effect under applicable U.S. Treasury regulations to be treated as a U.S. person.

This summary is based upon provisions of the Code and regulations, rulings and judicial decisions as of the date hereof. Those authorities may be changed, perhaps retroactively, or be subject to differing interpretations, so as to result in U.S. federal income tax considerations different from those summarized below. This summary does not represent a detailed description of the U.S. federal income tax considerations to you in light of your particular circumstances. In addition, it does not address the U.S. federal income tax considerations to you if you are subject to special treatment under the U.S. federal income tax laws (including if you are a bank or other financial institution, insurance company, broker or dealer in securities, tax-exempt organization, foreign government or agency, U.S. expatriate, “controlled foreign corporation,” “passive foreign investment company,” a person who is subject to the alternative minimum tax, a person who holds or received our common stock pursuant to the exercise of any employee stock option or otherwise as compensation, or a person who holds our common stock in a straddle or as part of a hedging, conversion or constructive sale transaction). Except where noted, this summary does not address any non-income federal tax consequences, such as estate or gift tax consequences, nor does it address the Medicare tax on net investment income or any state, local, or non-U.S. tax considerations. We cannot assure you that a change in law will not alter significantly the tax considerations that we describe in this summary.

If an entity or arrangement classified as a partnership for U.S. federal income tax purposes holds our common stock, the tax treatment of a partner will generally depend on the status of the partner and the activities of the partnership. If you are a partnership holding our common stock, or a partner in such a partnership, you should consult your tax advisors.

If you are considering the purchase of our common stock, you should consult your own tax advisors concerning the particular U.S. federal tax consequences to you of the purchase, ownership and disposition of our common stock, as well as the consequences to you arising under the laws of any other taxing jurisdiction, including any state, local or foreign tax consequences.

Distributions

We have not declared any cash dividends since becoming a public company and do not anticipate paying any cash dividends on our common stock in the foreseeable future. If we were to pay cash dividends in the future on our common stock, they would be subject to U.S. federal income tax in the manner described below.

Distributions on our common stock generally will constitute dividends for U.S. federal income tax purposes to the extent paid out of our current or accumulated earnings and profits, as determined under U.S. federal income tax principles. Distributions in excess of current and accumulated earnings and profits will be applied against and reduce a non-U.S. holder’s tax basis in our common stock, to the extent thereof, and any excess will be treated as capital gain realized on the sale or other disposition of the common stock and subject to tax in the manner described below under “—Gain on Disposition of Common Stock.”

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Distributions paid to a non-U.S. holder of our common stock that constitute dividends under the rules described above generally will be subject to withholding of U.S. federal income tax at a 30% rate or such lower rate as may be specified by an applicable income tax treaty. However, dividends that are effectively connected with the conduct of a trade or business by a non-U.S. holder within the U.S. and, where an income tax treaty applies, are attributable to a U.S. permanent establishment of the non-U.S. holder, are not subject to this withholding tax, but instead are subject to U.S. federal income tax on a net income basis at applicable individual or corporate rates. Certain certification and disclosure requirements must be complied with in order for effectively connected dividends to be exempt from this withholding tax. Any such effectively connected dividends received by a foreign corporation may be subject to an additional “branch profits tax” at a 30% rate or such lower rate as may be specified by an applicable income tax treaty.

A non-U.S. holder of our common stock who is entitled to and wishes to claim the benefits of an applicable treaty rate (and avoid backup withholding as discussed below) with respect to dividends received on our common stock, generally will be required (i) to complete Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) Form W-8BEN or W-8BEN-E (or an acceptable substitute form) and make certain certifications, under penalty of perjury, to establish its status as a non-U.S. person and its entitlement to treaty benefits or (ii) if the common stock is held through certain foreign intermediaries, to satisfy the relevant certification requirements of applicable U.S. Treasury regulations. Special certification and other requirements apply to certain non-U.S. holders that are entities rather than individuals.

A non-U.S. holder of our common stock eligible for a reduced rate of U.S. federal withholding tax pursuant to an income tax treaty may obtain a refund of any excess amounts withheld by timely filing an appropriate claim for refund with the IRS.

See the discussions below regarding backup withholding and the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, or “FATCA,” for additional withholding rules that may apply to distributions.

Gain on Disposition of Common Stock

Subject to the discussions below regarding backup withholding and FATCA, a non-U.S. holder generally will not be subject to U.S. federal income tax with respect to gain recognized on a sale or other disposition of our common stock unless (i) the gain is effectively connected with a trade or business of the non-U.S. holder within the U.S. and, where an income tax treaty applies, is attributable to a U.S. permanent establishment of the non-U.S. holder, (ii) in the case of a non-U.S. holder who is an individual, such holder is present in the U.S. for 183 or more days in the taxable year of the sale or other disposition and certain other conditions are met, or (iii) subject to certain exceptions, we are or have been a “U.S. real property holding corporation” for U.S. federal income tax purposes and certain other conditions are met.

In the case of a non-U.S. holder described in subsection (i) above, any net gain derived from the disposition generally will be subject to U.S. federal income tax under graduated U.S. federal income tax rates in generally the same manner as if the non-U.S. holder were a United States person as defined under the Code, unless an applicable income tax treaty provides otherwise. Additionally, a non-U.S. holder that is a corporation may be subject to a branch profits tax equal to 30% of its effectively connected earnings and profits attributable to such gain (or, if an income tax treaty applies, at such lower rate as may be specified by the treaty on its gains attributable to its U.S. permanent establishment), subject to adjustments. Except as otherwise provided by an applicable income tax treaty, an individual non-U.S. holder described in subsection (ii) above will be subject to a 30% tax on any gain derived from the disposition, which may be offset by certain U.S. source capital losses. With respect to subsection (iii) above, we believe we have not been and are not currently, and do not anticipate becoming, a “U.S. real property holding corporation” for U.S. federal income tax purposes.

Information Reporting and Backup Withholding

Payors must report annually to the IRS and to each non-U.S. holder the amount of distributions paid to such holder and the tax withheld (if any) with respect to such distributions, regardless of whether withholding was required. Copies of the information returns reporting such distributions and any withholding may also be made available to the tax authorities in the country in which the non-U.S. holder resides under the provisions of an

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applicable income tax treaty. In addition, distributions paid to a non-U.S. holder may be subject to backup withholding unless applicable certification requirements are met.

Payment of the proceeds of a sale of our common stock within the U.S. or conducted through certain U.S. related financial intermediaries is subject to information reporting and, depending upon the circumstances, backup withholding unless the non-U.S. holder certifies under penalties of perjury that it is not a U.S. person (and the payor does not have actual knowledge or reason to know that the holder is a U.S. person) or the holder otherwise establishes an exemption.

Any amounts withheld under the backup withholding rules may be allowed as a refund or a credit against a non-U.S. holder’s U.S. federal income tax liability provided the required information is timely furnished to the IRS.

Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act

Legislation commonly referred to as FATCA generally imposes a 30% U.S. federal withholding tax on certain types of payments made to (i) a “foreign financial institution” (as specifically defined in the legislation), whether such foreign financial institution is the beneficial owner or an intermediary, unless such foreign financial institution agrees to verify, report and disclose its U.S. “account” holders (as specifically defined in the legislation) and meets certain other specified requirements, or (ii) a non-financial foreign entity, whether such non-financial foreign entity is the beneficial owner or an intermediary, unless such entity provides a certification that the beneficial owner of the payment does not have any substantial U.S. owners or provides the name, address and taxpayer identification number of each such substantial U.S. owner and certain other specified requirements are met. An intergovernmental agreement between the United States and an applicable foreign country may modify the FATCA requirements. In addition, in certain cases, the relevant foreign financial institution or non-financial foreign entity may qualify for an exemption from, or be deemed to be in compliance with, these rules. Under the applicable U.S. Treasury regulations and administrative guidance, withholding under FATCA generally applies to payments of dividends on our common stock. While withholding under FATCA would have applied also to payments of gross proceeds from the sale or other disposition of our common stock on or after January 1, 2019, proposed Treasury regulations eliminate FATCA withholding on payments of gross proceeds entirely. Taxpayers generally may rely on these proposed Treasury regulations until final Treasury regulations are issued.

Investors are urged to consult with their own tax advisors regarding the possible application of these rules to their investment in our common stock.

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CERTAIN ERISA CONSIDERATIONS

The following is a summary of certain considerations associated with the purchase of our common stock, or any interest therein by employee benefit plans that are subject to Title I of the U.S. Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended (“ERISA”), plans, individual retirement accounts and other arrangements that are subject to Section 4975 of the Code or provisions under any U.S. or non-U.S. federal, state, local or other laws or regulations that are similar to such provisions of ERISA or the Code (collectively, “Similar Laws”), and entities whose underlying assets are considered to include “plan assets” of any such plan, account or arrangement (each, a “Plan”).

General Fiduciary Matters

ERISA and the Code impose certain duties on persons who are fiduciaries of a Plan subject to Title I of ERISA or Section 4975 of the Code (a “Covered Plan”) and prohibit certain transactions involving the assets of a Covered Plan and its fiduciaries or other interested parties. Under ERISA and the Code, any person who exercises any discretionary authority or control over the administration of a Covered Plan or the management or disposition of the assets of a Covered Plan, or who renders investment advice for a fee or other compensation to a Covered Plan, is generally considered to be a fiduciary of the Covered Plan.

In considering an investment in our common stock, or any interest therein, using a portion of the assets of any Plan, a fiduciary should determine whether the investment is in accordance with the documents and instruments governing the Plan and the applicable provisions of ERISA, the Code or any Similar Law relating to a fiduciary’s duties to the Plan including, without limitation, the prudence, diversification, delegation of control, conflicts of interest and prohibited transaction provisions of ERISA, the Code and any other applicable Similar Laws. A fiduciary of a Plan should also consider the Plan’s particular circumstances and all of the facts and circumstances of the investment, including, but not limited to, the matters discussed above under “Risk Factors,” in determining whether an investment in our common stock, or any interest therein, satisfies these requirements.

Plan fiduciaries should consider the fact that none of the issuer, any underwriter or the issuer’s or underwriter’s affiliates (the “Transaction Parties”) is acting, or will act, as a fiduciary to any Plan with respect to the decision to purchase our common stock, or any interest therein, in connection with the initial offer and sale pursuant to this prospectus supplement. The Transaction Parties are not undertaking to provide impartial investment advice or advice based on any particular investment need, or to give advice in a fiduciary capacity, with respect to such decision to purchase our common stock, or any interest therein.

Prohibited Transaction Issues

Section 406 of ERISA and Section 4975 of the Code prohibit Covered Plans from engaging in specified transactions involving plan assets with persons or entities who are “parties in interest,” within the meaning of ERISA, or “disqualified persons,” within the meaning of Section 4975 of the Code, unless an exemption is available. A party in interest or disqualified person who engaged in a non-exempt prohibited transaction may be subject to excise taxes and other penalties and liabilities under ERISA and the Code. In addition, the fiduciary of the Covered Plan that engages in such a non-exempt prohibited transaction may be subject to penalties and liabilities under ERISA and the Code. The acquisition and/or holding of our common stock, or any interest therein, by a Covered Plan with respect to which is the Transactions Parties are considered a party in interest or a disqualified person may constitute or result in a direct or indirect prohibited transaction under Section 406 of ERISA and/or Section 4975 of the Code, unless the investment is acquired and is held in accordance with an applicable statutory, class or individual prohibited transaction exemption. In this regard, the U.S. Department of Labor has issued prohibited transaction class exemptions, or “PTCEs,” that may apply to the acquisition and holding of our common stock, or any interest therein. These class exemptions include, without limitation, PTCE 84-14 respecting transactions determined by independent qualified professional asset managers, PTCE 90-1 respecting insurance company pooled separate accounts, PTCE 91-38 respecting bank collective investment funds, PTCE 95-60 respecting life insurance company general accounts and PTCE 96-23 respecting transactions determined by in-house asset managers, although there can be no assurance that all of the conditions of any such exemptions will be satisfied.

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Because of the foregoing, our common stock, or any interest therein, should not be purchased or held by any person investing “plan assets” of any Plan, unless such purchase and holding will not constitute a non-exempt prohibited transaction under ERISA and the Code or similar violation of any applicable Similar Laws.

Representation

Accordingly, by acceptance of our common stock, or any interest therein, each purchaser and subsequent transferee of our common stock, or any interest therein, will be deemed to have represented and warranted that either (i) no portion of the assets used by such purchaser or transferee to acquire and hold our common stock, or any interest therein, constitutes assets of any Plan or (ii) the purchase and holding of our common stock, or any interest therein, by such purchaser or transferee will not constitute a non-exempt prohibited transaction under Section 406 of ERISA or Section 4975 of the Code or similar violation under any applicable Similar Laws.

The foregoing discussion is general in nature and is not intended to be all inclusive. Due to the complexity of these rules and the penalties that may be imposed upon persons involved in non-exempt prohibited transactions, it is particularly important that fiduciaries, or other persons considering purchasing our common stock, or any interest therein, on behalf of, or with the assets of, any Plan, consult with their counsel regarding the potential applicability of ERISA, Section 4975 of the Code and any Similar Laws to such investment and whether an exemption would be applicable to the purchase and holding of our common stock, or any interest therein,

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UNDERWRITING

We are offering the shares of common stock described in this prospectus through a number of underwriters. Robert W. Baird & Co. Incorporated is acting as the representative of the underwriters. We have entered into an underwriting agreement with the representative of the underwriters for itself and the other underwriters. Subject to the terms and conditions of the underwriting agreement, we have agreed to sell to the underwriters, and each underwriter has severally agreed to purchase, at the public offering price less the underwriting discounts and commissions set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, the number of shares of common stock listed next to its name in the following table:


Name						Number of shares
Robert W. Baird & Co. Incorporated						5,133,929
RBC Capital Markets, LLC						3,422,619
Truist Securities, Inc.						3,422,619
B. Riley Securities, Inc.						1,562,500
Raymond James & Associates, Inc.						1,562,500
The Benchmark Company, Inc.						937,500
Noble Capital Markets, Inc.						625,000
Total						16,666,667

The underwriters are committed to purchase all the common shares offered by us if they purchase any shares. The underwriting agreement also provides that if an underwriter defaults, the purchase commitments of non-defaulting underwriters may also be increased or the offering may be terminated.

The underwriters propose to offer the common shares directly to the public at the initial public offering price set forth on the cover page of this prospectus and to certain dealers at that price less a concession not in excess of $0.432 per share. Any such dealers may resell shares to certain other brokers or dealers at a discount of up to $0.288 per share from the initial public offering price. After the initial public offering of the shares, the offering price and other selling terms may be changed by the underwriters. The offering of the shares by the underwriters is subject to receipt and acceptance and subject to the underwriters’ right to reject any order in whole or in part.

The underwriters have an option to buy up to 2,500,000 additional shares of our common stock from us to cover sales of shares by the underwriters which exceed the number of shares specified in the table above. The underwriters have 30 days from the date of this prospectus to exercise this option to purchase additional shares. If any shares are purchased with this option to purchase additional shares, the underwriters will purchase shares in approximately the same proportion as shown in the table above. If any additional shares of common stock are purchased, the underwriters will offer the additional shares on the same terms as those on which the shares are being offered.

The underwriting discounts and commissions are equal to the public offering price per share of common stock less the amount paid by the underwriters to us per share of common stock. The underwriting discounts and commissions are $0.72 per share. The following table shows the per share and total underwriting discounts and commissions to be paid to the underwriters assuming both no exercise and full exercise of the underwriters’ option to purchase additional shares.


	Without underwriters’ option exercise	With full underwriters’ option exercise
Per Share	$0.72	$0.72
Total	$12,000,000	$13,800,000

We estimate that the total expenses of this offering, including registration, filing and listing fees and legal and accounting expenses, but excluding the underwriting discounts and commissions, will be approximately $300,000.

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A prospectus in electronic format may be made available on the websites maintained by one or more underwriters, or selling group members, if any, participating in the offering. The underwriters may agree to allocate a number of shares to underwriters and selling group members for sale to their online brokerage account holders. Internet distributions will be allocated by the representative to underwriters and selling group members that may make Internet distributions on the same basis as other allocations.

We have agreed, subject to specified exceptions, that we will not (i) offer, pledge, sell, contract to sell, sell any option or contract to purchase, purchase any option or contract to sell, grant any option, right or warrant to purchase or otherwise dispose of, directly or indirectly, or file with the SEC a registration statement under the Securities Act relating to, any shares of our common stock or securities convertible into or exchangeable or exercisable for any shares of our common stock, or publicly disclose the intention to make any offer, sale, pledge, disposition or filing, or (ii) enter into any swap or other arrangement that transfers all or a portion of the economic consequences associated with the ownership of any shares of common stock or any such other securities (regardless of whether any of these transactions are to be settled by the delivery of shares of common stock or such other securities, in cash or otherwise), in each case without the prior written consent of Robert W. Baird & Co. Incorporated for a period of 90 days after the date of this prospectus.

Our directors and executive officers have entered into lock-up agreements with the underwriters prior to the commencement of this offering pursuant to which each of these persons or entities, with limited exceptions, for a period of 90 days after the date of this prospectus, may not, without the prior written consent of Robert W. Baird & Co. Incorporated, (i) offer, sell, assign, transfer, pledge, contract to sell, or otherwise dispose of, or publicly disclose the intention to make any offer, sale, pledge or disposition of, any shares of our common stock or securities convertible into or exercisable or exchangeable for our common stock (including, without limitation, shares of our common stock or any such securities which may be deemed to be beneficially owned by such officers and directors in accordance with the rules and regulations promulgated under the Exchange Act (such shares or securities, the (“Beneficially Owned Shares”)), (ii) enter into any swap, hedge or other agreement or arrangement that transfers in whole or in part, the economic risk of ownership of any Beneficially Owned Shares, our common stock or securities convertible into or exercisable or exchangeable for our common stock, or (iii) engage in any short selling of any Beneficially Owned Shares, our common stock or securities convertible into or exercisable or exchangeable for our common stock.

Robert W. Baird & Co. Incorporated, in its sole discretion and at any time or from time to time before the termination of the 90 day restricted period, without public notice, may release all or any portion of the securities subject to lock-up agreements. There are no existing agreements between the underwriters and us providing consent to the sale of shares prior to the expiration of the lock-up period. Sales of a substantial number of such shares upon expiration of the lock-up and market stand-off agreements, the perception that such sales may occur, or early release of these agreements, could cause our market price to fall or make it more difficult for you to sell your common stock at a time and price that you deem appropriate.

We have agreed to indemnify the several underwriters against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act.

Our common stock is listed on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol “KTOS.”

In connection with this offering, the underwriters may engage in stabilizing transactions, which involves making bids for, purchasing and selling shares of common stock in the open market for the purpose of preventing or retarding a decline in the market price of the common stock while this offering is in progress. These stabilizing transactions may include making short sales of the common stock, which involves the sale by the underwriters of a greater number of shares of common stock than they are required to purchase in this offering, and purchasing shares of common stock on the open market to cover positions created by short sales. Short sales may be “covered” shorts, which are short positions in an amount not greater than the underwriters’ option to purchase additional shares referred to above, or may be “naked” shorts, which are short positions in excess of that amount. The underwriters may close out any covered short position either by exercising their option to purchase additional shares, in whole or in part, or by purchasing shares in the open market. In making this determination, the underwriters will consider, among other things, the price of shares available for purchase in the open market compared to the price at which the

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underwriters may purchase shares through the option to purchase additional shares. A naked short position is more likely to be created if the underwriters are concerned that there may be downward pressure on the price of the common stock in the open market that could adversely affect investors who purchase in this offering. To the extent that the underwriters create a naked short position, they will purchase shares in the open market to cover the position.

The underwriters have advised us that, pursuant to Regulation M of the Securities Act, they may also engage in other activities that stabilize, maintain or otherwise affect the price of the common stock, including the imposition of penalty bids. This means that if the representative of the underwriters purchase common stock in the open market in stabilizing transactions or to cover short sales, the representative can require the underwriters that sold those shares as part of this offering to repay the underwriting discount received by them.

These activities may have the effect of raising or maintaining the market price of the common stock or preventing or retarding a decline in the market price of the common stock, and, as a result, the price of the common stock may be higher than the price that otherwise might exist in the open market. If the underwriters commence these activities, they may discontinue them at any time. The underwriters may carry out these transactions on Nasdaq, in the over-the-counter market or otherwise.

In addition, in connection with this offering certain of the underwriters (and selling group members) may engage in passive market making transactions in our common stock on Nasdaq prior to the pricing and completion of this offering. Passive market making consists of displaying bids on Nasdaq no higher than the bid prices of independent market makers and making purchases at prices no higher than these independent bids and effected in response to order flow. Net purchases by a passive market maker on each day are generally limited to a specified percentage of the passive market maker’s average daily trading volume in the common stock during a specified period and must be discontinued when such limit is reached. Passive market making may cause the price of our common stock to be higher than the price that otherwise would exist in the open market in the absence of these transactions. If passive market making is commenced, it may be discontinued at any time.

Other than in the United States, no action has been taken by us or the underwriters that would permit a public offering of the securities offered by this prospectus in any jurisdiction where action for that purpose is required. The securities offered by this prospectus may not be offered or sold, directly or indirectly, nor may this prospectus or any other offering material or advertisements in connection with the offer and sale of any such securities be distributed or published in any jurisdiction, except under circumstances that will result in compliance with the applicable rules and regulations of that jurisdiction. Persons into whose possession this prospectus comes are advised to inform themselves about and to observe any restrictions relating to the offering and the distribution of this prospectus. This prospectus does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any securities offered by this prospectus in any jurisdiction in which such an offer or a solicitation is unlawful.

Canada

The securities may be sold in Canada only to purchasers purchasing, or deemed to be purchasing, as principal that are accredited investors, as defined in National Instrument 45-106 Prospectus Exemptions or subsection 73.3(1) of the Securities Act (Ontario), and are permitted clients, as defined in National Instrument 31-103 Registration Requirements, Exemptions, and Ongoing Registrant Obligations. Any resale of the securities must be made in accordance with an exemption from, or in a transaction not subject to, the prospectus requirements of applicable securities laws.

Securities legislation in certain provinces or territories of Canada may provide a purchaser with remedies for rescission or damages if this prospectus supplement (including any amendment thereto) contains a misrepresentation, provided that the remedies for rescission or damages are exercised by the purchaser within the time limit prescribed by the securities legislation of the purchaser’s province or territory. The purchaser should refer to any applicable provisions of the securities legislation of the purchaser’s province or territory of these rights or consult with a legal advisor.

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Pursuant to section 3A.3 of National Instrument 33-105 Underwriting Conflicts (NI 33-105), the underwriters are not required to comply with the disclosure requirements of NI 33-105 regarding underwriter conflicts of interest in connection with this offering.

Dubai

This prospectus supplement relates to an Exempt Offer in accordance with the Offered Securities Rules of the Dubai Financial Services Authority (the “DFSA”). This prospectus supplement is intended for distribution only to persons of a type specified in the Offered Securities Rules of the DFSA. It must not be delivered to, or relied on by, any other person. The DFSA has no responsibility for reviewing or verifying any documents in connection with Exempt Offers. The DFSA has not approved this prospectus supplement nor taken steps to verify the information set forth herein and has no responsibility for this prospectus supplement. The shares to which this prospectus supplement relates may be illiquid and/or subject to restrictions on their resale. Prospective purchasers of the shares offered should conduct their own due diligence on the shares. If you do not understand the contents of this prospectus supplement you should consult an authorized financial advisor.

European Economic Area

None of this prospectus supplement, the accompanying prospectus or any related free writing prospectus is a prospectus for the purposes of Regulation (EU) 2017/1129, as amended (the “Prospectus Regulation”). This prospectus supplement, the accompanying prospectus and any related free writing prospectus have been prepared on the basis that any offer of shares of our common stock in any Member State of the European Economic Area (the “EEA”) (each, a “Relevant State”) will be made pursuant to an exemption under the Prospectus Regulation from the requirement to publish a prospectus for offers of shares of our common stock. Accordingly, any person making or intending to make an offer in any Relevant State of shares of our common stock which are the subject of the offering contemplated in this prospectus supplement, the accompanying prospectus and any related free writing prospectus may only do so in circumstances in which no obligation arises for the Company or any of the underwriters to publish a prospectus pursuant to Article 3 of the Prospectus Regulation in relation to such offer. None of the Company or the underwriters have authorized, nor do they authorize, the making of any offer of shares of our common stock in the EEA in circumstances in which an obligation arises for the Company or the underwriters to publish a prospectus for such offer.

In relation to each Relevant State, no shares of our common stock have been offered or will be offered pursuant to the offering to the public in that Relevant State prior to the publication of a prospectus in relation to the shares of our common stock which has been approved by the competent authority in that Relevant State or, where appropriate, approved in another Relevant State and notified to the competent authority in that Relevant State, all in accordance with the Prospectus Regulation, except that the shares of our common stock may be offered to the public in that Relevant State at any time:

(a)to any legal entity which is a qualified investor as defined under Article 2 of the Prospectus Regulation;

(b)to fewer than 150 natural or legal persons (other than qualified investors as defined under Article 2 of the Prospectus Regulation), subject to obtaining the prior consent of the representatives for any such offer; or

(c)in any other circumstances falling within Article 1(4) of the Prospectus Regulation,

provided that no such offer of the shares of our common stock shall require the Company or the underwriters to publish a prospectus pursuant to Article 3 of the Prospectus Regulation.

For the purposes of this provision, the expression an “offer to the public” in relation to the shares of our common stock in any Relevant State means the communication in any form and by means of sufficient information on the terms of the offer and any shares of our common stock to be offered so as to enable an investor to decide to purchase or subscribe for any shares of our common stock.

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United Kingdom

None of this prospectus supplement, the accompanying prospectus or any related free writing prospectus is a prospectus for the purposes of Regulation (EU) 2017/1129, as it forms part of domestic law in the United Kingdom by virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018, as amended (the “EUWA”) (the “UK Prospectus Regulation”). This prospectus supplement, the accompanying prospectus and any related free writing prospectus have been prepared on the basis that any offer of shares of our common stock in the United Kingdom will be made pursuant to an exemption under the UK Prospectus Regulation from the requirement to publish a prospectus for offers of shares of our common stock. Accordingly, any person making or intending to make an offer in the United Kingdom of shares of our common stock which are the subject of the offering contemplated in this prospectus supplement, the accompanying prospectus and any related free writing prospectus may only do so in circumstances in which no obligation arises for the Company or any of the underwriters to publish a prospectus pursuant to Section 85 of the United Kingdom’s Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, as amended (the “FSMA”) in relation to such offer. None of the Company or the underwriters have authorized, nor do they authorize, the making of any offer of shares of our common stock in the United Kingdom in circumstances in which an obligation arises for the Company or the underwriters to publish a prospectus for such offer. No shares of our common stock have been offered or will be offered pursuant to the offering to the public in the United Kingdom prior to the publication of a prospectus in relation to the shares of our common stock which has been approved by the Financial Conduct Authority, except that the shares of our common stock may be offered to the public in the United Kingdom at any time:

(a)to any legal entity which is a qualified investor as defined under Article 2 of the UK Prospectus Regulation;

(b)to fewer than 150 natural or legal persons (other than qualified investors as defined under Article 2 of the UK Prospectus Regulation), subject to obtaining the prior consent of the representatives for any such offer; or

(c)in any other circumstances falling within Section 86 of the FSMA,

provided that no such offer of the shares of our common stock shall require the Company or the underwriters to publish a prospectus pursuant to Section 85 of the FSMA.

For the purposes of this provision, the expression an “offer to the public” in relation to the shares of our common stock in the United Kingdom means the communication in any form and by means of sufficient information on the terms of the offer and any shares of our common stock to be offered so as to enable an investor to decide to purchase or subscribe for any shares of our common stock.

The communication of this prospectus supplement, the accompanying prospectus, any related free writing prospectus and any other document or materials relating to the issue of the shares of our common stock offered hereby is not being made, and such documents and/or materials have not been approved, by an authorized person for the purposes of section 21 of the FSMA. Accordingly, this prospectus supplement, the accompanying prospectus, any related free writing prospectus and such other documents and/or materials are not being distributed to, and must not be passed on to, the general public in the United Kingdom. This prospectus supplement, the accompanying prospectus, any related free writing prospectus and such other documents and/or materials are for distribution only to persons who (i) have professional experience in matters relating to investments and who fall within the definition of investment professionals (as defined in Article 19(5) of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Financial Promotion) Order 2005, as amended (the “Financial Promotion Order”)), (ii) fall within Article 49(2)(a) to (d) of the Financial Promotion Order, (iii) are outside the United Kingdom or (iv) are other persons to whom it may otherwise lawfully be made under the Financial Promotion Order (all such persons together being referred to as “relevant persons”). This prospectus supplement, the accompanying prospectus, any related free writing prospectus and such other documents and/or materials are directed only at relevant persons and must not be acted on or relied on by persons who are not relevant persons. Any investment or investment activity to which this prospectus supplement, the accompanying prospectus, any related free writing prospectus and any other document or materials relate will be engaged in only with relevant persons. Any person in the United Kingdom that is not a relevant person should not act or rely on this prospectus supplement, the accompanying prospectus, any related free writing prospectus or any

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other documents and/or materials relating to the issue of the shares of our common stock offered hereby or any of their contents.

Any invitation or inducement to engage in investment activity (within the meaning of Section 21 of the FSMA) in connection with the issue or sale of the shares of our common stock may only be communicated or caused to be communicated in circumstances in which Section 21(1) of the FSMA does not apply to the Company.

All applicable provisions of the FSMA must be complied with in respect to anything done by any person in relation to the shares of common our stock in, from or otherwise involving the United Kingdom.

Hong Kong

The shares of our common stock have not and will not be offered or sold in Hong Kong by means of any document other than (i) in circumstances which do not constitute an offer to the public within the meaning of the Companies (Winding Up and Miscellaneous Provisions) Ordinance (Cap. 32 of the Laws of Hong Kong) (“Companies (Winding Up and Miscellaneous Provisions) Ordinance”) or Securities and Futures Ordinance, or (ii) to “professional investors” within the meaning of the Securities and Futures Ordinance (Cap. 571 of the Laws of Hong Kong) (“Securities and Futures Ordinance”) and any rules made thereunder, or (iii) in other circumstances which do not result in the document being a “prospectus” as defined in the Companies (Winding Up and Miscellaneous Provisions) Ordinance, and no advertisement, invitation or document relating to the shares have been or will be issued or have been or will be in the possession of any person for the purpose of issue (in each case whether in Hong Kong or elsewhere), which is directed at, or the contents of which are likely to be accessed or read by, the public in Hong Kong (except if permitted to do so under the securities laws of Hong Kong) other than with respect to shares which are or are intended to be disposed of only to persons outside Hong Kong or only to “professional investors” as defined in the Securities and Futures Ordinance and any rules made thereunder.

Japan

The shares of our common stock have not been and will not be registered under the Financial Instruments and Exchange Law of Japan (Law No. 25 of 1948, as amended) and, accordingly, will not be offered or sold, directly or indirectly, in Japan, or for the benefit of any Japanese Person or to others for re-offering or resale, directly or indirectly, in Japan or to any Japanese Person, except in compliance with all applicable laws, regulations and ministerial guidelines promulgated by relevant Japanese governmental or regulatory authorities in effect at the relevant time. For the purposes of this paragraph, “Japanese Person” shall mean any person resident in Japan, including any corporation or other entity organized under the laws of Japan.

Singapore

This prospectus supplement, the accompanying prospectus, and any related free writing prospectus has not been registered as a prospectus with the Monetary Authority of Singapore. Accordingly, this prospectus supplement, the accompanying prospectus, any related free writing prospectus, and any other document or material in connection with the offer or sale, or invitation for subscription or purchase, of shares may not be circulated or distributed, nor may the shares be offered or sold, or be made the subject of an invitation for subscription or purchase, whether directly or indirectly, to persons in Singapore other than (i) to an institutional investor (as defined in Section 4A of the Securities and Futures Act 2001 (2020 Revised Edition) of Singapore (the “SFA”)) under Section 274 of the SFA, (ii) to a relevant person (as defined in Section 275(2) of the SFA) pursuant to Section 275(1) of the SFA, or any person pursuant to Section 275(1A) of the SFA, in accordance with the conditions specified in Section 275 of the SFA, or (iii) otherwise pursuant to, and in accordance with the conditions of, any other applicable provision of the SFA.

Where the shares are subscribed or purchased under Section 275 of the SFA by a relevant person which is:

•a corporation (which is not an accredited investor (as defined in Section 4A of the SFA)) the sole business of which is to hold investments and the entire share capital of which is owned by one or more individuals, each of whom is an accredited investor; or

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•a trust (where the trustee is not an accredited investor) whose sole purpose is to hold investments and each beneficiary of the trust is an individual who is an accredited investor,

securities or securities-based derivatives contracts (each term as defined in Section 2(1) of the SFA) of that corporation or the beneficiaries’ rights and interest (howsoever described) in that trust shall not be transferred within six months after that corporation or that trust has acquired the shares pursuant to an offer made under Section 275 of the SFA except:

•to an institutional investor or to a relevant person defined in Section 275(2) of the SFA, or to any person arising from an offer referred to in Section 275(1A) or Section 276(4)(c)(ii) of the SFA;

•where no consideration is or will be given for the transfer;

•where the transfer is by operation of law;

•as specified in Section 276(7) of the SFA; or

•as specified in Regulation 37A of the Securities and Futures (Offers of Investments) (Securities and Securities-based Derivatives Contracts) Regulations 2018 of Singapore.

Solely for the purposes of its obligations pursuant to Section 309B of the SFA and the Securities and Futures (Capital Markets Products) Regulations 2018 (the “CMP Regulations 2018”), we have determined, and hereby notify all relevant persons (as defined in the CMP Regulations 2018), that the shares are prescribed capital markets products (as defined in the CMP Regulations 2018) and Excluded Investment Products (as defined in Monetary Authority of Singapore Notice SFA04-N12: Notice on the Sale of Investment Products and Monetary Authority of Singapore Notice FAA-N16: Notice of Recommendations of Investment Products).

Switzerland

This prospectus supplement, the accompanying prospectus, any related free writing prospectus, and accompanying prospectus are not intended to constitute an offer or solicitation to purchase or invest in the common stock. The common stock may not be publicly offered, directly or indirectly, in Switzerland within the meaning of the Swiss Financial Services Act (“FinSA”) and will not be listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange (“SIX”) or on any other stock exchange or regulated trading venue (exchange or multilateral trading facility) in Switzerland. This document does not constitute a prospectus within the meaning of, and has been prepared without regard to, the disclosure standards for issuance prospectuses under art. 652a or art. 1156 of the Swiss Code of Obligations or the disclosure standards for listing prospectuses under art. 27 ff. of the SIX Listing Rules or the listing rules of any other stock exchange or regulated trading venue (exchange or multilateral trading facility) in Switzerland. Neither this document nor any other offering or marketing material relating to the common stock constitutes a prospectus pursuant to the FinSA, and neither this document nor any other offering or marketing material relating to the common stock or the offering may be publicly distributed or otherwise made publicly available in Switzerland.

Neither this document nor any other offering or marketing material relating to the offering, the Company, or the common stock have been or will be filed with or approved by any Swiss regulatory authority. In particular, this document will not be filed with, and the offer of common stock will not be supervised by, the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority FINMA (FINMA), and the offer of common stock has not been and will not be authorized under the Swiss Federal Act on Collective Investment Schemes (“CISA”). The investor protection afforded to acquirers of interests in collective investment schemes under the CISA does not extend to acquirers of common stock.

Other Relationships

The underwriters and their respective affiliates are full service financial institutions engaged in various activities, which may include sales and trading, commercial and investment banking, advisory, investment management, investment research, principal investment, hedging, market making, brokerage and other financial and non-financial activities and services. Certain of the underwriters and their respective affiliates have provided, and

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may in the future provide, a variety of these services to the issuer and to persons and entities with relationships with the issuer, for which they received or will receive customary fees and expenses.

In the ordinary course of their various business activities, the underwriters and their respective affiliates, officers, directors and employees may purchase, sell or hold a broad array of investments and actively traded securities, derivatives, loans, commodities, currencies, credit default swaps and other financial instruments for their own account and for the accounts of their customers, and such investment and trading activities may involve or relate to assets, securities and/or instruments of the issuer (directly, as collateral securing other obligations or otherwise) and/or persons and entities with relationships with the issuer. The underwriters and their respective affiliates may also communicate independent investment recommendations, market color or trading ideas and/or publish or express independent research views in respect of such assets, securities or instruments and may at any time hold, or recommend to clients that they should acquire, long and/or short positions in such assets, securities and instruments.

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VALIDITY OF SECURITIES

The validity of the common stock being offered by this prospectus supplement will be passed upon for us by our counsel, Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLP, Menlo Park, California. Certain legal matters in connection with this offering will be passed upon for the underwriters by Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP, New York, New York.

EXPERTS

The financial statements of the Company incorporated by reference in this prospectus supplement, and the effectiveness of the Company’s internal control over financial reporting, have been audited by Deloitte & Touche LLP, an independent registered public accounting firm, as stated in their report. Such financial statements are incorporated by reference in reliance upon the report of such firm, given their authority as experts in accounting and auditing.

WHERE YOU CAN FIND ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

We file annual, quarterly and special reports, proxy statements and other information with the SEC. The SEC maintains an Internet website at http://www.sec.gov that contains reports, proxy and information statements, and other information regarding issuers that file electronically with the SEC, including Kratos. You may also access our reports and proxy statements free of charge at our Internet website, http://www.kratosdefense.com. The information contained in, or that can be accessed through, our website is not part of this prospectus supplement. The prospectus included in this filing is part of a registration statement filed by us with the SEC. The full registration statement can be obtained from the SEC, as indicated above, or from us.

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INCORPORATION OF CERTAIN DOCUMENTS BY REFERENCE

The SEC allows us to incorporate by reference the information we file with it, which means that we can disclose important information to you by referring you to another document that we have filed separately with the SEC. The information incorporated by reference is considered to be a part of this prospectus supplement and the accompanying prospectus. We hereby incorporate by reference the following information or documents into this prospectus supplement:

•our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2023 filed with the SEC on February 13, 2024;

•the portions of our Definitive Proxy Statement filed with the SEC on April 14, 2023, incorporated by reference into the Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 25, 2022; and

•the description of our common stock contained in our Registration Statement on Form 8-A (File No. 000-27231), filed under Section 12(g) of the Exchange Act on September 3, 1999, including any subsequent amendment or report filed for the purpose of amending such description, including Exhibit 4.4 to the Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 29, 2019 (filed with the SEC on February 24, 2020).

Any information in any of the foregoing documents will automatically be deemed to be modified or superseded to the extent that information in this prospectus supplement or the accompanying prospectus or in a later filed document that is incorporated or deemed to be incorporated herein by reference modifies or replaces such information. Any statement so modified or superseded will not be deemed, except as so modified or superseded, to constitute a part of this prospectus supplement.

We also incorporate by reference any future filings (other than information in current reports furnished under Item 2.02 or Item 7.01 of Form 8-K and exhibits filed on such form that are related to such items) made with the SEC pursuant to Sections 13(a), 13(c), 14 or 15(d) of the Exchange Act, until we sell all of the securities offered by this prospectus supplement. Information in such future filings updates and supplements the information provided in this prospectus supplement. Any statements in any such future filings will automatically be deemed to modify and supersede any information in any document we previously filed with the SEC that is incorporated or deemed to be incorporated herein by reference to the extent that statements in the later filed document modify or replace such earlier statements.

Upon written or oral request, we will provide to you, without charge, a copy of any or all of the documents that are incorporated by reference into this prospectus supplement and the accompanying prospectus but not delivered with the prospectus, including exhibits which are specifically incorporated by reference into such documents. Requests should be directed to: Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc., Attention: Investor Relations, 1 Chisholm Trail, Suite 300, Round Rock, TX 78681, telephone (512) 238-9840.

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PROSPECTUS

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc.

Common Stock

Preferred Stock

Debt Securities

Warrants

Rights

Units

We may from time to time offer to sell any combination of the securities described in this prospectus, either individually or in units, in one or more offerings. In addition, certain selling security holders to be identified in supplements to this prospectus may offer and sell these securities from time to time.

This prospectus provides a general description of the securities we may offer. Each time we sell securities, we will provide specific terms of the securities offered in a supplement to this prospectus. We may also authorize one or more free writing prospectuses to be provided to you in connection with these offerings. The prospectus supplement and any related free writing prospectus may also add, update or change information contained in this prospectus. You should carefully read this prospectus, the applicable prospectus supplement and any related free writing prospectus, as well as any documents incorporated by reference herein or therein before you invest in any securities. This prospectus may not be used to consummate a sale of securities unless accompanied by the applicable prospectus supplement.

Our common stock is listed on The Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol “KTOS.” The applicable prospectus supplement will contain information, where applicable, as to any other listing on The Nasdaq Global Select Market or any securities market or other exchange of the securities, if any, covered by the applicable prospectus supplement.

Investing in our securities involves risks. See “Risk Factors” beginning on page 4.

The securities may be offered directly by us or by any selling security holder from time to time, through agents designated by us or to or through underwriters, brokers or dealers. We will provide specific information about any selling security holders in one or more supplements to this prospectus. For additional information on the methods of sale, you should refer to the section entitled “Plan of Distribution” in this prospectus. If any underwriters are involved in the sale of any securities with respect to which this prospectus is being delivered, the names of such underwriters and any applicable commissions or discounts will be set forth in a prospectus supplement or a related free writing prospectus. The price to the public of such securities and the net proceeds we expect to receive from such sale will also be set forth in a prospectus supplement or a related free writing prospectus.

Neither the Securities and Exchange Commission nor any state securities commission has approved or disapproved of these securities or determined if this prospectus is truthful or complete. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense

The date of this prospectus is February 21, 2024

TABLE OF CONTENTS


			Page
ABOUT THIS PROSPECTUS			1
SUMMARY			2
RISK FACTORS			4
FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS			5
USE OF PROCEEDS			6
SELLING SECURITY HOLDERS			7
PLAN OF DISTRIBUTION			8
DESCRIPTION OF CAPITAL STOCK			10
DESCRIPTION OF DEBT SECURITIES			14
DESCRIPTION OF WARRANTS			22
DESCRIPTION OF RIGHTS			24
DESCRIPTION OF UNITS			25
LEGAL OWNERSHIP OF SECURITIES			27
LEGAL MATTERS			31
EXPERTS			31
WHERE YOU CAN FIND ADDITIONAL INFORMATION			31
INCORPORATION OF CERTAIN INFORMATION BY REFERENCE			32

ABOUT THIS PROSPECTUS

This prospectus is a part of an automatic shelf registration statement that we filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”), as a “well-known seasoned issuer” as defined in Rule 405 under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), utilizing a “shelf” registration process. Under this shelf registration process, we may sell any combination of the securities described in this prospectus in one or more offerings. In addition, selling security holders to be named in a prospectus supplement may sell certain of our securities from time to time. This prospectus provides you with a general description of the securities we may offer. Each time we or any selling security holder offers to sell securities under this shelf registration statement, we or the selling security holder will provide a prospectus supplement that will contain specific information about the terms of that offering. We may also authorize one or more free writing prospectuses to be provided to you that may contain material information relating to these offerings. The prospectus supplement and any related free writing prospectus that we may authorize to be provided to you may also add, update or change information contained in this prospectus or in any documents that we have incorporated by reference into this prospectus. To the extent that any statement that we make in a prospectus supplement is inconsistent with statements made in this prospectus, the statement made in this prospectus will be deemed modified or superseded by those made in the prospectus supplement. You should read this prospectus, any applicable prospectus supplement and any related free writing prospectus, together with the information incorporated herein by reference as described under the heading “Where You Can Find Additional Information” and “Incorporation of Certain Information by Reference.”

You should rely only on the information that we have provided or incorporated by reference in this prospectus, any applicable prospectus supplement and any related free writing prospectus that we may authorize to be provided to you. You should assume that the information in this prospectus is accurate only as of the date of this prospectus, that any information in any accompanying prospectus supplement is accurate only as of the date of such accompanying prospectus supplement,.and that any information included in another document incorporated by reference herein is accurate only as of the date of such document We have not authorized any broker, dealer, salesperson or other person to give any information or to make any representation other than those contained or incorporated by reference in this prospectus, any applicable prospectus supplement or any related free writing prospectus that we may authorize to be provided to you. You must not rely upon any information or representation not contained or incorporated by reference in this prospectus, the accompanying prospectus supplement or related free writing prospectus. We take no responsibility for, and can provide no assurance as to the reliability of, any other information that others may give you.

This prospectus, any accompanying prospectus supplement, and any related free writing prospectus do not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities other than the registered securities to which they relate, nor do this prospectus, any accompanying prospectus supplement, or any related free writing prospectus constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy securities in any jurisdiction to any person to whom it is unlawful to make such offer or solicitation in such jurisdiction. You should not assume that the information contained in this prospectus, any applicable prospectus supplement or any related free writing prospectus is accurate on any date subsequent to the date set forth on the front of the document or that any information we have incorporated by reference therein is correct on any date subsequent to the date set forth on the front of the document incorporated by reference, even though this prospectus, any applicable prospectus supplement or any related free writing prospectus is delivered or the applicable securities are sold on a later date.

This prospectus, any accompanying prospectus supplement, and any related free writing prospectus may contain estimates and other information concerning our target markets that are based on industry publications, surveys and forecasts. This information involves a number of assumptions and limitations and you are cautioned not to give undue weight to this information. Please read the section of this prospectus entitled “Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements.” The industry in which we operate is subject to a high degree of uncertainty and risk due to a variety of factors, including those described under the heading “Risk Factors” contained in the applicable prospectus supplement and any related free writing prospectus, and in our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and any subsequently filed Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, as well as any amendments thereto reflected in subsequent filings with the SEC. These and other factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in such publications, surveys and forecasts.

This prospectus contains summaries of certain provisions contained in some of the documents described herein, but reference is made to the actual documents for complete information. All of the summaries are qualified in their entirety by the actual documents. Copies of some of the documents referred to herein have been filed, will be filed or will be incorporated by reference as exhibits to the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part, and you may obtain copies of those documents as described below under the heading “Where You Can Find Additional Information.”

SUMMARY

This summary highlights selected information from this prospectus and the documents incorporated herein by reference and does not contain all of the information that you need to consider in making your investment decision. You should carefully read this entire prospectus, including the risks of investing in our securities discussed under “Risk Factors” beginning on page 4 of this prospectus, the information incorporated herein by reference, including the information in such documents under the heading “Risk Factors” and our financial statements, and the exhibits to the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part. All references in this prospectus to “we,” “us,” “our,” “Kratos,” the “Company” and similar designations refer to Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. and its consolidated subsidiaries, unless otherwise indicated or as the context otherwise requires.

Our Business

Kratos’ primary business areas include, virtualized ground systems for satellites and space vehicles including software for command & control (C2) and telemetry, tracking and control (TT&C), jet powered unmanned aerial drone systems, hypersonic vehicles and rocket systems, propulsion systems for drones, missiles, loitering munitions, supersonic systems, space craft and launch systems, C5ISR and microwave electronic products for missile, radar, missile defense, space, satellite, counter UAS, directed energy, communication and other systems, and virtual & augmented reality training systems for the warfighter.

Our workforce is primarily engineering and technically oriented with a significant number of employees holding national security clearances. Much of our work is performed at customer locations, or in a secure manufacturing facility and other facilities. Our primary end customers are defense and national security related agencies, communications and other global enterprises. Our entire organization is focused on executing our strategy of being the leading technology and intellectual property based product and system company and being “first to market” in each of our industry leading core competency areas.

Our Corporate Information

We were initially incorporated in the state of New York in 1994, commenced operations in 1995 and were reincorporated in Delaware in 1998. On September 12, 2007, we changed our name from Wireless Facilities, Inc. to Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. Our executive offices are located at 1 Chisholm Trail, Suite 300, Round Rock, TX 78681, and our telephone number is (512) 238-9840 . We maintain an Internet website at www.kratosdefense.com. We have included our website address in this prospectus solely as an inactive textual reference. We do not incorporate the information on, or accessible through, our website into this prospectus, and you should not consider any information on or accessible through our website as part of this prospectus. Our common stock trades on The Nasdaq Global Select Market under the trading symbol “KTOS”.

Securities We May Offer

We may offer shares of our common stock and preferred stock, various series of debt securities and warrants or rights to purchase any of such securities, either individually or in units, from time to time under this prospectus, together with any applicable prospectus supplement and related free writing prospectus, at prices and on terms to be determined by market conditions at the time of offering. This prospectus provides you with a general description of the securities we may offer. Each time we offer a type or series of securities, we will provide a prospectus

supplement that will describe the specific amounts, prices and other important terms of the securities, including, to the extent applicable:

•designation or classification;

•aggregate principal amount or aggregate offering price;

•maturity, if applicable;

•original issue discount, if any;

•rates and times of payment of interest or dividends, if any;

•redemption, conversion, exchange or sinking fund terms, if any;

•conversion prices, if any;

•ranking;

•restrictive covenants, if any;

•voting or other rights, if any; and

•important U.S. federal income tax considerations.

A prospectus supplement and any related free writing prospectus that we may authorize to be provided to you may also add, update or change information contained in this prospectus or in documents we have incorporated by reference. However, no prospectus supplement or free writing prospectus will offer a security that is not registered and described in this prospectus at the time of the effectiveness of the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part.

THIS PROSPECTUS MAY NOT BE USED TO CONSUMMATE A SALE OF SECURITIES UNLESS IT IS ACCOMPANIED BY A PROSPECTUS SUPPLEMENT.

•the names of those agents, underwriters, brokers or dealers;

•applicable fees, discounts and commissions to be paid to them;

•details regarding options to purchase additional securities, if any; and

•the net proceeds to us.

RISK FACTORS

Investing in our securities involves a high degree of risk. Before deciding whether to invest in our securities, you should carefully consider the risks and uncertainties described under the section captioned “Risk Factors” contained in our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K, our most recent Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q and other filings we make with the SEC from time to time, which are incorporated by reference herein in their entirety, together with the other information in this prospectus, the accompanying prospectus supplement, any free writing prospectus, and in the documents incorporated by reference in this prospectus. The risks described in our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K, any subsequently filed Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and the other filings we make with the SEC incorporated by reference herein are not the only ones facing the Company. Additional risks and uncertainties may also impair our business operations. If any of the risks described in this prospectus, any accompanying prospectus supplement, any related free writing prospectus, our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K, any subsequently filed Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and the other filings incorporated by reference herein occurs, our business, financial condition, results of operations and future growth prospects could be harmed. In these circumstances, the market price of our common stock or other securities could decline, and you may lose all or part of your investment.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This prospectus and the documents incorporated herein by reference contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”). These statements are based on our management’s current beliefs, expectations and assumptions about future events, conditions and results and on information currently available to us. Discussions containing these forward-looking statements may be found, among other places, in the Sections entitled “Business,” “Risk Factors” and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” incorporated by reference from our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and in our Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, as well as any amendments thereto, filed with the SEC.

All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included or incorporated herein regarding our strategy, future operations, financial position, future revenues, projected costs, plans, prospects and objectives are forward-looking statements. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terminology such as “may,” “will,” “should,” “expect,” “plan,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “predict,” “potential,” or “continue,” the negative of such terms or other comparable terminology. Important risks and uncertainties that could cause our actual results or achievements to differ materially from the results or achievements reflected in our forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to: changes, cutbacks or delays in spending by the U.S. Department of Defense may occur which could cause delays or cancellations of key government contracts; delays to or the cancellation of our projects as a result of protest actions submitted by our competitors; changes in federal government (or other applicable) procurement laws, regulations, policies and budgets; the availability of government funding for the Company’s products and services due to performance, cost growth, or other factors; changes in government and customer priorities and requirements; the potential of the current economic environment to adversely impact our business; currently unforeseen risks associated with COVID-19 or any other public health crisis; risks related to natural disasters or severe weather; changes in the scope or timing of our projects; the timing, rescheduling or cancellation of significant customer contracts and agreements, or consolidation by or the loss of key customers; risks of adverse regulatory action or litigation; risks associated with debt leverage; failure to successfully achieve our integration, cost reduction or divestiture strategies; risks related to security breaches, cybersecurity attacks or other significant disruptions of our information systems; and competition in the marketplace, which could reduce revenues and profit margins.

Such statements are based on currently available operating, financial and competitive information and are subject to various risks, uncertainties and assumptions that could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated or implied in our forward-looking statements due to a number of factors including, but not limited to, those set forth above or included or incorporated herein, those set forth under the section entitled “Risk Factors” in our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and in our Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, as well as any amendments thereto filed with the SEC. Given these risks, uncertainties and other factors, many of which are beyond our control, you should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements.

Except as required by law, we assume no obligation to update these forward-looking statements publicly, or to revise any forward-looking statements to reflect events or developments occurring after the date of this prospectus, even if new information becomes available in the future.

USE OF PROCEEDS

Except as described in any applicable prospectus supplement and in any free writing prospectuses in connection with a specific offering, we currently intend to use the net proceeds from the sale of the securities offered hereby for general corporate purposes, including, among other things, working capital requirements and potential repayment of indebtedness that may be outstanding at the time of any offering under this prospectus. We may also use a portion of the net proceeds from the sale of the securities offered hereby to acquire or invest in businesses, services and technologies that are complementary to our own, although we have no present commitments or agreements to do so. Accordingly, we will retain broad discretion over the use of such proceeds. Pending these uses, we intend to invest the net proceeds in investment-grade, interest-bearing securities. We will not receive any of the proceeds from sales of securities by selling security holders.

SELLING SECURITY HOLDERS

If the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part is used by selling security holders for the resale of any securities registered thereunder pursuant to a registration rights agreement to be entered into by us with such selling security holders or otherwise, information about such selling security holders, their beneficial ownership of our securities and their relationship with us will be set forth in a prospectus supplement, any free writing prospectus or in other filings we make with the SEC under the Exchange Act that are incorporated by reference into the registration statement.

PLAN OF DISTRIBUTION

We, or the applicable selling security holders, may sell the securities being offered hereby in one or more of the following ways from time to time:

•through agents to the public or to investors;

•to underwriters, brokers or dealers for resale to the public or to investors;

•in “at the market offerings” within the meaning of Rule 415(a)(4) under the Securities Act, to or through a market maker or into an existing trading market, on an exchange or otherwise;

•directly to investors;

•through a combination of any of these methods of sale; or

•through any other methods described in a prospectus supplement.

Each time we offer and sell securities, we will provide a prospectus supplement or supplements (and any related free writing prospectus that we may authorize to be provided to you) that will describe the terms of the offering of the securities, including, to the extent applicable:

•the name or names of any agents or underwriters, brokers or dealers and the amount of shares underwritten or purchased by each of them;

•the purchase price of the securities being offered and the proceeds we will receive from the sale;

•any over-allotment options under which underwriters may purchase additional securities from us;

•any agency fees or underwriting discounts and other items constituting agents’ or underwriters’ compensation;

•any initial public offering price;

•any discounts or concessions allowed or reallowed or paid to brokers or dealers; and

•any securities exchanges or markets on which such securities may be listed.

We may designate agents who agree to use their reasonable efforts to solicit purchases of our securities for the period of their appointment or to sell our securities on a continuing basis. We will name any agent involved in the offering and sale of securities and we will describe any commissions we will pay to the agent in the applicable prospectus supplement.

If we use underwriters for a sale of securities, the underwriters will acquire the securities for their own account. The underwriters may resell the securities in one or more transactions, including negotiated transactions, at a fixed public offering price, at varying prices determined at the time of sale, at prices related to prevailing market prices or at negotiated prices. The obligations of the underwriters to purchase the securities will be subject to the conditions set forth in the applicable underwriting agreement. We may offer the securities to the public through underwriting syndicates represented by managing underwriters or by underwriters without a syndicate. Subject to certain conditions, the underwriters will be obligated to purchase all of the securities offered by the prospectus supplement, other than securities covered by any over-allotment or other option. We may change from time to time any initial public offering price and any discounts or concessions the underwriters allow or reallow or pay to brokers or dealers. We may use underwriters with whom we have a material relationship. We will describe the nature of any such relationship in any prospectus supplement naming any such underwriter. Only underwriters we name in the applicable prospectus supplement are underwriters of the securities offered by such prospectus supplement.

We may also sell securities directly to one or more purchasers without using underwriters or agents. Underwriters, brokers, dealers and agents that participate in the distribution of the securities may be underwriters as

defined in the Securities Act, and any discounts or commissions they receive from us and any profit on their resale of the securities may be treated as underwriting discounts and commissions under the Securities Act. We will identify in the applicable prospectus supplement any underwriters, brokers, dealers or agents and will describe their compensation. We may have agreements with the underwriters, brokers, dealers and agents to indemnify them against specified civil liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act, or to contribution with respect to payments which they may be required to make in respect thereof. Underwriters, brokers, dealers and agents may engage in transactions with or perform services for us in the ordinary course of their businesses.

We and/or the selling security holders, if applicable, may authorize underwriters, brokers, dealers or agents to solicit offers by certain purchasers to purchase the securities from us at the public offering price set forth in the prospectus supplement pursuant to delayed delivery contracts providing for payment and delivery on a specified date in the future. The contracts will be subject only to those conditions set forth in the applicable prospectus supplement, and the applicable prospectus supplement will set forth any commissions we pay for solicitation of these contracts.

Unless otherwise specified in the applicable prospectus supplement, each class or series of securities will be a new issue with no established trading market, other than our common stock, which is listed on The Nasdaq Global Select Market. We may elect to list any other class or series of securities on any exchange or market, but we are not obligated to do so. It is possible that one or more underwriters may make a market in a class or series of securities, but the underwriters will not be obligated to do so and may discontinue any market making at any time without notice. We cannot give any assurance as to the liquidity of the exchanges or markets for any of the securities.

Any underwriter may engage in overallotment, stabilizing transactions, short covering transactions and penalty bids in accordance with Regulation M under the Exchange Act. Overallotment involves sales in excess of the offering size, which create a short position. Stabilizing transactions permit bids to purchase the underlying security so long as the stabilizing bids do not exceed a specified maximum. Syndicate-covering or other short covering transactions involve purchases of the securities in the open market after the distribution is completed to cover short positions. Penalty bids permit the underwriters to reclaim a selling concession from a dealer when the securities originally sold by the dealer are purchased in a covering transaction to cover short positions. Those activities may cause the price of the securities to be higher than it would otherwise be. If commenced, the underwriters may discontinue any of these activities at any time.

Any underwriters who are qualified market makers on The Nasdaq Global Select Market may engage in passive market making transactions in the securities on The Nasdaq Global Select Market in accordance with Rule 103 of Regulation M, during the business day prior to the pricing of the offering, before the commencement of offers or sales of the securities. Passive market makers must comply with applicable volume and price limitations and must be identified as passive market makers. In general, a passive market maker must display its bid at a price not in excess of the highest independent bid for such security. If all independent bids are lowered below the passive market maker’s bid, however, the passive market maker’s bid must then be lowered when certain purchase limits are exceeded. Passive market making may stabilize the market price of the securities at a level above that which might otherwise prevail in the open market and, if commenced, may be discontinued at any time.

Underwriters and their affiliates may be customers of, engage in transactions with or perform services for us or our affiliates in the ordinary course of business.

Under Rule 15c6-1 of the Exchange Act, trades in the secondary market generally are required to settle in two business days, unless the parties to any such trade expressly agree otherwise or the securities are sold by us to an underwriter in a firm commitment underwritten offering. The applicable prospectus supplement may provide that the original issue date for your securities may be more than two scheduled business days after the trade date for your securities. Accordingly, in such a case, if you wish to trade securities on any date prior to the second business day before the original issue date for your securities, you will be required, by virtue of the fact that your securities initially are expected to settle in more than two scheduled business days after the trade date for your securities, to make alternative settlement arrangements to prevent a failed settlement.

DESCRIPTION OF CAPITAL STOCK

The following description of our capital stock, together with any additional information we include in any applicable prospectus supplements or any free writing prospectuses that we may authorize to be delivered to you, summarizes the material terms and provisions of our capital stock that we may offer under this prospectus. While the terms we have summarized below will apply generally to any future capital stock that we may offer, we will describe the particular terms of any class or series of these securities in more detail in the applicable prospectus supplement or free writing prospectus. This description is only a summary. For the complete terms of our capital stock, please refer to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation (as amended, our “Certificate of Incorporation”) and our second amended and restated bylaws (as amended, our “Bylaws”), that are incorporated by reference into the registration statement, of which this prospectus forms a part. The terms of these securities may also be affected by the Delaware General Corporation Law (the “DGCL”). The summary below and any summary contained in any prospectus supplement or free writing prospectus are qualified in their entirety by reference to our Certificate of Incorporation and our Bylaws.

Common Stock

We are authorized to issue 195,000,000 shares of common stock, par value $0.001 per share, of which 129,997,441 shares were issued and outstanding as of February 9, 2024. The holders of common stock possess exclusive voting rights in us, except to the extent our board of directors specifies voting power with respect to any other class of securities issued in the future. Each holder of our common stock is entitled to one vote for each share held of record on each matter submitted to a vote of stockholders, including the election of directors. Stockholders do not have any right to cumulate votes in the election of directors.

Subject to preferences that may be granted to the holders of preferred stock, each holder of our common stock is entitled to share ratably in distributions to stockholders and to receive ratably such dividends as may be declared by our board of directors out of funds legally available therefor. In the event of our liquidation, dissolution or winding up, the holders of our common stock will be entitled to receive, after payment of all of our debts and liabilities and of all sums to which holders of any preferred stock may be entitled, the distribution of any of our remaining assets. Holders of our common stock have no conversion, exchange, sinking fund, redemption or appraisal rights (other than as may be determined by our board of directors in its sole discretion) and have no preemptive rights to subscribe for any of our securities.

All of the outstanding shares of our common stock are, and the shares of common stock issued upon the conversion of any securities convertible into our common stock will be, fully paid and non-assessable. The shares of common stock offered by this prospectus or upon the conversion of any preferred stock or debt securities or exercise of any warrants offered pursuant to this prospectus, when issued and paid for, will also be, fully paid and non-assessable.

Our common stock is listed on The Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol “KTOS.”

Undesignated Preferred Stock

We are authorized to issue 5,000,000 shares of preferred stock, par value $0.001 per share, none of which were issued and outstanding as of February 9, 2024. Our board of directors is authorized to classify or reclassify any unissued portion of our authorized shares of preferred stock to provide for the issuance of shares of other classes or series, including preferred stock in one or more series. We may issue preferred stock from time to time in one or more classes or series, with the exact terms of each class or series established by our board of directors. Without seeking stockholder approval, our board of directors may issue preferred stock with voting and other rights that could adversely affect the voting power of the holders of our common stock. Additionally, the issuance of preferred stock may have the effect of decreasing the market price of the common stock.

The rights, preferences, privileges and restrictions of the preferred stock of each series will be fixed by the certificate of designation relating to each series. A prospectus supplement relating to each series will specify the terms of the preferred stock, including, but not limited to:

•the distinctive designation and the maximum number of shares in the series;

•the terms on which dividends, if any, will be paid;

•the voting rights, if any, on the shares of the series;

•the terms and conditions, if any, on which the shares of the series shall be convertible into, or exchangeable for, shares of any other class or classes of capital stock;

•the terms on which the shares may be redeemed, if at all;

•the liquidation preference, if any; and

•any or all other preferences, rights, restrictions, including restrictions on transferability, and qualifications of shares of the series.

The issuance of preferred stock may delay, deter or prevent a change in control.

We will describe the specific terms of a particular series of preferred stock in the prospectus supplement relating to that series. The description of preferred stock above and the description of the terms of a particular series of preferred stock in the prospectus supplement are not complete. You should refer to the applicable certificate of designation for complete information. The applicable prospectus supplement will contain a description of U.S. federal income tax consequences relating to the preferred stock.

Possible Anti-Takeover Effects of Delaware Law and our Charter Documents

Provisions of the DGCL and our Certificate of Incorporation and Bylaws could make it more difficult to acquire us by means of a tender offer, a proxy contest or otherwise, or to remove incumbent officers and directors. These provisions, summarized below, are expected to discourage certain types of coercive takeover practices and takeover bids that our board of directors may consider inadequate and to encourage persons seeking to acquire control of us to first negotiate with our board of directors. We believe that the benefits of increased protection of our ability to negotiate with the proponent of an unfriendly or unsolicited proposal to acquire or restructure us outweigh the disadvantages of discouraging takeover or acquisition proposals because, among other things, negotiation of these proposals could result in an improvement of their terms.

Delaware Anti-Takeover Statute

We are subject to Section 203 of the DGCL, an anti-takeover statute. In general, Section 203 of the DGCL prohibits a publicly held Delaware corporation from engaging in a “business combination” with an “interested stockholder” for a period of three years following the time the person became an interested stockholder, unless the business combination or the acquisition of shares that resulted in a stockholder becoming an interested stockholder is approved in a prescribed manner. Generally, a “business combination” includes a merger, asset or stock sale, or other transaction resulting in a financial benefit to the interested stockholder. Generally, an “interested stockholder” is a person who, together with affiliates and associates, owns (or within three years prior to the determination of interested stockholder status did own) 15% or more of the applicable corporation’s voting stock. The existence of this provision would be expected to have an anti-takeover effect with respect to transactions not approved in advance by our board of directors, including discouraging attempts that might result in a premium over the market price for the shares of common stock held by our stockholders.

Election and Removal of Directors

Our board of directors is elected annually by all holders of our capital stock. To be eligible for election or appointment to the board of directors, an individual must meet certain director qualification requirements set forth in

our Bylaws. At a special meeting of stockholders, directors may be removed without cause by the affirmative vote of the holders of at least a majority of the outstanding shares entitled to vote on such removal.

Amendment

The affirmative vote of the holders of at least 66 2/3 % of the voting power of all of the then-outstanding shares of our voting stock, voting together as a single class, is required to, among other things, alter, amend or repeal certain provisions of our Certificate of Incorporation, including those related to the election and removal of the board of directors, amendment of our Bylaws and Certificate of Incorporation, restrictions against stockholder actions by written consent and the indemnification of officers and directors.

Our Bylaws, may only be amended (or new bylaws adopted) by the board of directors or the affirmative vote of the holders of at least 66 2/3 % of the voting power of all of the then-outstanding shares of our voting stock.

Size of Board and Vacancies

Pursuant to our Certificate of Incorporation and our Bylaws, our board of directors has the exclusive right to fix the size of the board and to fill any vacancies resulting from death, resignation, disqualification or removal as well as any newly created directorships arising from an increase in the size of the board of directors.

Special Stockholder Meetings

Our Bylaws provide that only a majority of the total number of directors then in office may call a special meeting of the stockholders, and any business conducted at any special meeting must have been properly brought before the meeting. To be properly brought before a meeting, business must be specified in the notice of meeting (or any supplement thereto) given by or at the direction of our board of directors, otherwise properly brought before the meeting by or at the direction of our board of directors, or otherwise properly brought before the meeting by a stockholder, but, in the case of a special meeting, if and only if the notice of the meeting provides for business to be brought before the meeting by a stockholder.

Stockholder Action by Unanimous Written Consent

Our Certificate of Incorporation expressly eliminates the right of our stockholders to act by written consent. Stockholder action must take place at the annual or a special meeting of our stockholders.

Requirements for Advance Notification of Stockholder Nominations and Proposals

Our Bylaws establish advance notice procedures with respect to stockholder proposals and nomination of candidates for election as directors other than nominations made by or at the direction of our board of directors or a committee of our board of directors.

No Cumulative Voting

The DGCL provides that stockholders are denied the right to cumulate votes in the election of directors unless a company's certificate of incorporation provides otherwise. Our Certificate of Incorporation does not provide for cumulative voting.

Undesignated Preferred Stock

The authority that will be possessed by our board of directors to issue preferred stock could potentially be used to discourage attempts by third parties to obtain control of the Company through a merger, tender offer, proxy contest or otherwise by making such attempts more difficult or more costly. Our board of directors may issue preferred stock with voting rights or conversion rights that, if exercised, could adversely affect the voting power of the holders of our common stock.

Authorized but Unissued Shares

Our authorized but unissued shares of common stock and preferred stock will be available for future issuance without stockholder approval. We may use additional shares for a variety of purposes, including future public offerings to raise additional capital, to fund acquisitions and as employee compensation. The existence of authorized but unissued shares of common stock and preferred stock could render more difficult or discourage an attempt to obtain control of us by means of a proxy contest, tender offer, merger or otherwise.

Transfer Agent and Registrar

The transfer agent and registrar for our common stock is EQ Shareowner Services. Its address is 1110 Centre Pointe Curve, Suite 101, Mendota Heights, MN 55120 and its telephone number is (800) 468-9716. The transfer agent for any series of preferred stock that we may offer under this prospectus will be named and described in the prospectus supplement for that series.

DESCRIPTION OF DEBT SECURITIES

The following description, together with the additional information we include in any applicable prospectus supplements or free writing prospectuses, summarizes the material terms and provisions of the debt securities that we may offer under this prospectus. We may issue an unlimited amount of debt securities, in one or more series, as either senior or subordinated debt or as senior or subordinated convertible debt. While the terms we have summarized below will apply generally to any future debt securities we may offer under this prospectus, we will describe the particular terms of any debt securities that we may offer in more detail in the applicable prospectus supplement or free writing prospectus. The terms of any debt securities we offer under a prospectus supplement may differ from the terms we describe below. Unless the context requires otherwise, whenever we refer to the “indentures,” we also are referring to any supplemental indentures that specify the terms of a particular series of debt securities.

We will issue any senior debt securities under the senior indenture and any supplemental indentures that we will enter into with the trustee named in the senior indenture. We will issue any subordinated debt securities under the subordinated indenture and any supplemental indentures that we will enter into with the trustee named in the subordinated indenture. We have filed forms of these documents as exhibits to the registration statement, of which this prospectus is a part, and supplemental indentures and forms of debt securities containing the terms of the debt securities being offered will be filed as exhibits to the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part or will be incorporated by reference from reports that we file with the SEC.

The indentures will be qualified under the Trust Indenture Act of 1939, as amended (the “Trust Indenture Act”). We use the term “trustee” to refer to either the trustee under the senior indenture or the trustee under the subordinated indenture, as applicable.

The following summaries of material provisions of the senior debt securities, the subordinated debt securities and the applicable indentures are subject to, and qualified in their entirety by reference to, all of the provisions of the indenture and any supplemental indentures applicable to a particular series of debt securities. We urge you to read the applicable prospectus supplements and any related free writing prospectuses related to the debt securities that we may offer under this prospectus, as well as the complete indentures and supplemental indentures that contain the terms of the debt securities.

The terms of each series of debt securities will be established by or pursuant to a resolution of our board of directors and set forth or determined in the manner provided in an officers’ certificate or by a supplemental indenture. Debt securities may be issued in separate series without limitation as to aggregate principal amount. We may specify a maximum aggregate principal amount for the debt securities of any series. We will describe in the applicable prospectus supplement the terms of the series of debt securities being offered, including:

•the title;

•the principal amount being offered, and if a series, the total amount authorized and the total amount outstanding;

•any limit on the amount that may be issued;

•whether or not we will issue the series of debt securities in global form, and, if so, the terms and who the depositary will be;

•the maturity date;

•whether and under what circumstances, if any, we will pay additional amounts on any debt securities held by a person who is not a U.S. person for tax purposes, and whether we can redeem the debt securities if we have to pay such additional amounts;

•the annual interest rate, which may be fixed or variable, or the method for determining the rate and the date interest will begin to accrue, the dates interest will be payable and the regular record dates for interest payment dates or the method for determining such dates;

•whether or not the debt securities will be secured or unsecured, and the terms of any secured debt;

•the terms of the subordination of any series of subordinated debt;

•the place where payments will be payable;

•restrictions on transfer, sale or other assignment, if any;

•our right, if any, to defer payment of interest and the maximum length of any such deferral period;

•the date, if any, after which, and the price at which, we may, at our option, redeem the series of debt securities pursuant to any optional or provisional redemption provisions and the terms of those redemption provisions;

•provisions for a sinking fund purchase or other analogous fund, if any, including the date, if any, on which, and the price at which we are obligated, pursuant thereto or otherwise, to redeem, or at the holder’s option, to purchase, the series of debt securities and the currency or currency unit in which the debt securities are payable;

•whether the applicable indenture will restrict our ability or the ability of our subsidiaries to:

•incur additional indebtedness;

•issue additional securities;

•create liens;

•pay dividends or make distributions in respect of our capital stock or the capital stock of our subsidiaries;

•redeem capital stock;

•place restrictions on our subsidiaries’ ability to pay dividends, make distributions or transfer assets;

•make investments or other restricted payments;

•sell, transfer or otherwise dispose of assets;

•enter into sale-leaseback transactions;

•engage in transactions with stockholders or affiliates;

•issue or sell stock of our subsidiaries; or

•effect a consolidation or merger;

•whether the indenture will require us to maintain any interest coverage, fixed charge, cash flow-based, asset-based or other financial ratios;

•information describing any book-entry features;

•the applicability of the provisions in the indenture on discharge;

•whether the debt securities are to be offered at a price such that they will be deemed to be offered at an “original issue discount” as defined in paragraph (a) of Section 1273 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended;

•the denominations in which we will issue the series of debt securities, if other than denominations of $2,000 and any integral multiple of $1,000 in excess thereof;

•the currency of payment of debt securities if other than U.S. dollars and the manner of determining the equivalent amount in U.S. dollars; and

•any other specific terms, preferences, rights or limitations of, or restrictions on, the debt securities, including any additional events of default or covenants provided with respect to the debt securities, and any terms that may be required by us or advisable under applicable laws or regulations.

U.S. federal income tax consequences related to the debt securities, including tax consequences applicable to debt securities sold at an original issue discount, will be described in the applicable prospectus supplement. In addition, U.S. federal income tax or other consequences applicable to any debt securities which are denominated in a currency or currency unit other than U.S. dollars may be described in the applicable prospectus supplement.

Conversion or Exchange Rights

We will set forth in the applicable prospectus supplement the terms under which a series of debt securities may be convertible into or exchangeable for our common stock, our preferred stock or other securities (including securities of a third party). We will include provisions as to whether conversion or exchange is mandatory, at the option of the holder or at our option. We may include provisions pursuant to which the number of shares of our common stock, our preferred stock or other securities (including securities of a third party) that the holders of the series of debt securities receive would be subject to adjustment.

Consolidation, Merger or Sale

Unless we provide otherwise in the prospectus supplement applicable to a particular series of debt securities, the indentures will not contain any covenant that restricts our ability to merge or consolidate, or sell, convey, transfer or otherwise dispose of all or substantially all of our assets. However, any successor to or acquiror of such assets must assume all of our obligations under the indentures or the debt securities, as appropriate. If the debt securities are convertible into or exchangeable for our other securities or securities of third parties, the person with whom we consolidate or merge or to whom we sell all of our property must make provisions for the conversion of the debt securities into securities that the holders of the debt securities would have received if they had converted the debt securities before the consolidation, merger or sale.

Events of Default under an Indenture

Unless we provide otherwise in the prospectus supplement applicable to a particular series of debt securities, the following are events of default under the indentures with respect to any series of debt securities that we may issue:

•if we fail to pay interest when due and payable and our failure continues for 30 days;

•if we fail to pay the principal, premium or sinking fund payment, if any, when due and payable;

•if we fail to observe or perform any other covenant contained in the debt securities or the indentures, other than a covenant specifically relating to another series of debt securities, and our failure continues for 90 days after we receive notice from the trustee or we and the trustee receive notice from the holders of at least 25% in aggregate principal amount of the outstanding debt securities of the applicable series; and

•if specified events of bankruptcy, insolvency or reorganization occur.

We will describe in each applicable prospectus supplement any additional events of default relating to the relevant series of debt securities. If an event of default with respect to debt securities of any series occurs and is continuing, other than an event of default specified in the last bullet point above, the applicable trustee or the holders of at least 25% in aggregate principal amount of the outstanding debt securities of that series, by notice to us in writing, and to the applicable trustee if notice is given by such holders, may declare the unpaid principal, premium, if any, and accrued interest, if any, due and payable immediately. If an event of default arises due to the occurrence of certain specified bankruptcy, insolvency or reorganization events, the unpaid principal, premium, if any, and accrued interest, if any, of each issue of debt securities then outstanding shall be due and payable without any notice or other action on the part of the trustee or any holder of such debt securities.

The holders of a majority in principal amount of the outstanding debt securities of an affected series may waive any default or event of default with respect to the series and its consequences, except defaults or events of default regarding payment of principal, premium, if any, or interest, unless we have cured the default or event of default in accordance with the indenture. Any such waiver shall cure the default or event of default.

Subject to the terms of the applicable indenture, if an event of default under an indenture shall occur and be continuing, the trustee will be under no obligation to exercise any of its rights or powers under such indenture at the request or direction of any of the holders of the applicable series of debt securities, unless such holders have offered the trustee reasonable indemnity or security satisfactory to it against any loss, liability or expense. The holders of a majority in principal amount of the outstanding debt securities of any series will have the right to direct the time, method and place of conducting any proceeding for any remedy available to the trustee, or exercising any trust or power conferred on the trustee, with respect to the debt securities of that series, provided that:

•the direction so given by the holder is not in conflict with any law or the applicable indenture; and

•subject to its duties under the Trust Indenture Act, the trustee need not take any action that might involve it in personal liability or might be unduly prejudicial to the holders not involved in the proceeding.

The indentures provide that if an event of default has occurred and is continuing, the trustee will be required in the exercise of its powers to use the degree of care that a prudent person would use in the conduct of its own affairs. The trustee, however, may refuse to follow any direction that conflicts with law or the indenture, or that the trustee determines is unduly prejudicial to the rights of any other holder of the relevant series of debt securities, or that would involve the trustee in personal liability. Prior to taking any action under the indentures, the trustee will be entitled to indemnification against all costs, expenses and liabilities that would be incurred by taking or not taking such action.

A holder of the debt securities of any series will have the right to institute a proceeding under the indentures or to appoint a receiver or trustee, or to seek other remedies only if:

•the holder has given written notice to the trustee of a continuing event of default with respect to that series;

•the holders of at least 25% in aggregate principal amount of the outstanding debt securities of that series have made a written request and such holders have offered reasonable indemnity to the trustee or security satisfactory to it against any loss, liability or expense to be incurred in compliance with instituting the proceeding as trustee; and

•the trustee does not institute the proceeding, and does not receive from the holders of a majority in aggregate principal amount of the outstanding debt securities of that series other conflicting directions within 60 days after the notice, request and offer.

These limitations do not apply to a suit instituted by a holder of debt securities if we default in the payment of the principal, premium, if any, or interest on, the debt securities.

We will periodically file statements with the trustee regarding our compliance with specified covenants in the indentures.

The indentures provide that if a default occurs and is continuing and is actually known to a responsible officer of the trustee, the trustee must mail to each holder notice of the default within 45 days after it occurs, unless such default has been cured. Except in the case of a default in the payment of principal or premium of, or interest on, any debt security or certain other defaults specified in the applicable indenture, the trustee shall be protected in withholding such notice if and so long as the board of directors, the executive committee or another committee of directors, or responsible officers of the trustee, in good faith determine that withholding notice is in the best interests of holders of the relevant series of debt securities.

Modification of Indenture; Waiver

Subject to the terms of the applicable indenture for any series of debt securities that we may issue, we and the trustee may modify or amend an indenture without the consent of any holders of the applicable debt securities with respect to the following specific matters:

•to fix any ambiguity, defect or inconsistency in the indenture;

•to comply with the provisions described above under “—Consolidation, Merger or Sale;”

•to comply with any requirements of the SEC in connection with the qualification of any indenture under the Trust Indenture Act;

•to add to, delete from or revise the conditions, limitations and restrictions on the authorized amount, terms or purposes of issue, authentication and delivery of debt securities, as set forth in such indenture;

•to provide for the issuance of, and establish the form and terms and conditions of, the debt securities of any series as provided above under “—General,” to establish the form of any certifications required to be furnished pursuant to the terms of the indenture or any series of debt securities, or to add to the rights of the holders of any series of debt securities;

•to evidence and provide for the acceptance of appointment hereunder by a successor trustee or other agent;

•to comply with the applicable procedures of the applicable depositary;

•to provide for uncertificated debt securities in addition to or in place of certificated debt securities and to make all appropriate changes for such purpose;

•to secure debt securities of any series;

•to add such new covenants, restrictions, conditions or provisions for the protection of the holders, and to make the occurrence, or the occurrence and the continuance, of a default in any such additional covenants, restrictions, conditions or provisions an event of default or to surrender any right or power conferred to us in the indenture; or

•to change anything that does not materially adversely affect the interests of any holder of debt securities of any series in any material respect; provided that any amendment made solely to conform the provisions of the indenture to the corresponding description of the debt securities contained in the applicable prospectus or prospectus supplement shall be deemed not to adversely affect the interests of the holders of such debt securities; provided further, that in connection with any such amendment we will provide the trustee with an officers’ certificate certifying that such amendment will not adversely affect the rights or interests of the holders of such debt securities.

In addition, under the indentures, the rights of holders of a series of debt securities may be changed by us and the trustee with the written consent of the holders of at least a majority in aggregate principal amount of the outstanding debt securities of each series that is affected. However, unless we provide otherwise in the prospectus supplement applicable to a particular series of debt securities, we and the trustee may only make the following changes to the applicable indenture with the consent of each holder of any outstanding debt securities affected:

•extending the fixed maturity of the series of debt securities;

•reducing the principal amount, reducing the rate of or extending the time of payment of interest, or reducing any premium payable upon the redemption of any debt securities;

•reducing the percentage of debt securities, the holders of which are required to consent to any amendment, supplement, modification or waiver of such indenture;

•changing any of our obligations to pay additional amounts;

•reducing the amount of principal of an original issue discount security or any other note payable upon acceleration of the maturity thereof;

•changing the currency in which any note or any premium or interest is payable;

•impairing the right to enforce any payment on or with respect to any note;

•adversely changing the right to convert or exchange such series of debt securities, including decreasing the conversion rate or increasing the conversion price of, such debt securities, if applicable;

•in the case of the subordinated indenture, modifying the subordination provisions in a manner adverse to the holders of the subordinated debt securities;

•if the debt securities are secured, changing the terms and conditions pursuant to which the debt securities are secured in a manner adverse to the holders of the secured debt securities;

•reducing the requirements contained in the applicable indenture for quorum or voting;

•changing any of our obligations to maintain an office or agency in the places and for the purposes required by the applicable indenture; or

•modifying any of the above provisions described in this paragraph.

Discharge

Each indenture provides that, subject to the terms of such indenture and any limitation otherwise provided in the prospectus supplement applicable to a particular series of debt securities, we may elect to be discharged from our obligations with respect to one or more series of debt securities, except for specified obligations, including obligations to:

•register the transfer or exchange of debt securities of such series;

•replace stolen, lost or mutilated debt securities of such series;

•maintain paying agents;

•hold monies for payment in trust;

•recover excess money held by the trustee;

•compensate and indemnify the trustee; and

•appoint any successor trustee.

In order to exercise our rights to be discharged, we must deposit with the trustee money or government obligations sufficient to pay all the principal of, and any premium and interest on, the debt securities of the series on the dates payments are due.

Form, Exchange and Transfer

We will issue the debt securities of each series only in fully registered form without coupons and, unless we otherwise specify in the applicable prospectus supplement, in denominations of $2,000 and any integral multiple of $1,000 in excess thereof. The indentures provide that we may issue debt securities of a series in temporary or permanent global form and as book-entry securities that will be deposited with, or on behalf of, The Depository Trust Company or another depositary named by us and identified in a prospectus supplement with respect to that series. See “Legal Ownership of Securities” below for a further description of the terms relating to any book-entry securities.

At the option of the holder, subject to the terms of the indentures and the limitations applicable to global securities described in the applicable prospectus supplement, the holder of the debt securities of any series can exchange such debt securities for other debt securities of the same series, in any authorized denomination and of like tenor and aggregate principal amount.

Subject to the terms of the indentures and the limitations applicable to global securities set forth in the applicable prospectus supplement, holders of debt securities may present such debt securities for exchange or for registration of transfer, duly endorsed or with the form of transfer endorsed thereon duly executed if so required by us or the security registrar, at the office of the security registrar or at the office of any transfer agent designated by us for this purpose. Unless otherwise provided in the debt securities that the holder presents for transfer or exchange, or the indenture governing the terms of such debt securities, we will impose no service charge for any registration of transfer or exchange, but we may require payment of any taxes or other governmental charges.

We will name in the applicable prospectus supplement the security registrar, and any transfer agent in addition to the security registrar, that we initially designate for any debt securities. We may at any time designate additional transfer agents or rescind the designation of any transfer agent or approve a change in the office through which any transfer agent acts, except that we will be required to maintain a transfer agent in each place of payment for the debt securities of each series.

If we elect to redeem debt securities of any series, we will not be required to:

•issue, register the transfer of, or exchange any debt securities of that series during a period beginning at the opening of business 15 days before the day of mailing of a notice of redemption of any debt securities that may be selected for redemption and ending at the close of business on the day of the mailing; or

•register the transfer of or exchange any debt securities so selected for redemption, in whole or in part, except the unredeemed portion of any debt securities we are redeeming in part.

Information Concerning the Trustee

The applicable trustee, other than during the occurrence and continuance of an event of default under an indenture, undertakes to perform only those duties as are specifically set forth in the applicable indenture and is under no obligation to exercise any of the powers given it by the indentures at the request of any holder of debt securities unless it is offered reasonable security and indemnity against the costs, expenses and liabilities that it might incur. However, upon an event of default under an indenture, the trustee must use the same degree of care as a prudent person would exercise or use in the conduct of his or her own affairs.

Payment and Paying Agents

Unless we otherwise indicate in the applicable prospectus supplement, we will make payment of the interest on any debt securities on any interest payment date to the person in whose name the debt securities, or one or more predecessor securities, are registered at the close of business on the regular record date for the interest payment.

We will pay principal of and any premium and interest on the debt securities of a particular series at the office of the paying agents designated by us, except that unless we otherwise indicate in the applicable prospectus supplement, we will make interest payments by check that we will mail to the holder or by wire transfer to certain holders. Unless we otherwise indicate in the applicable prospectus supplement, we will designate the corporate trust office of the trustee in the City of New York as our sole paying agent for payments with respect to debt securities of each series. We will name in the applicable prospectus supplement any other paying agents that we initially designate for debt securities of a particular series. We will maintain a paying agent in each place of payment for the debt securities of a particular series.

All money we pay to a paying agent or the trustee for the payment of the principal of or any premium or interest on any debt securities that remains unclaimed at the end of two years after such principal, premium or interest has become due and payable will be repaid to us, and the holder of the debt security thereafter may look only to us for payment thereof.

Governing Law

The indentures and the debt securities will be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of New York.

Ranking of Debt Securities

The subordinated debt securities will be unsecured and will be subordinate and junior in priority of payment to certain of our other indebtedness to the extent described in the applicable prospectus supplement. The subordinated indenture does not limit the amount of subordinated debt securities that we may issue. It also does not limit us from issuing any other secured or unsecured debt.

The senior debt securities will be unsecured and will rank equally in right of payment with all our other senior unsecured debt. The senior indenture does not limit the amount of senior debt securities that we may issue. It also does not limit us from issuing any other secured or unsecured debt.

DESCRIPTION OF WARRANTS

The following description, together with the additional information we may include in any applicable prospectus supplements and any applicable free writing prospectuses, summarizes the material terms and provisions of the warrants that we may offer under this prospectus, which may consist of warrants to purchase common stock, preferred stock or debt securities and may be issued in one or more series. Warrants may be offered independently or together with common stock, preferred stock or debt securities offered by any prospectus supplement, and may be attached to or separate from those securities. While the terms we have summarized below will apply generally to any warrants that we may offer under this prospectus, we will describe the particular terms of any series of warrants that we may offer in more detail in the applicable prospectus supplement and any applicable free writing prospectus. The terms of any warrants offered under a prospectus supplement may differ from the terms described below. However, no prospectus supplement will fundamentally change the terms that are set forth in this prospectus or offer a security that is not registered and described in this prospectus at the time of its effectiveness.

We will issue the warrants under a warrant agreement that we will enter into with a warrant agent to be selected by us. The warrant agent will act solely as an agent of ours in connection with the warrants and will not act as an agent for the holders or beneficial owners of the warrants. We will file as exhibits to the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part, or will incorporate by reference from a Current Report on Form 8-K that we file with the SEC, the form of warrant agreement, including a form of warrant certificate, that describes the terms of the particular series of warrants we are offering before the issuance of the related series of warrants. The following summaries of material provisions of the warrants and the warrant agreements are subject to, and qualified in their entirety by reference to, all the provisions of the warrant agreement and warrant certificate applicable to a particular series of warrants. We urge you to read the applicable prospectus supplement and any applicable free writing prospectus related to the particular series of warrants that we sell under this prospectus, as well as the complete warrant agreements and warrant certificates that contain the terms of the warrants.

General

We will describe in the applicable prospectus supplement the terms relating to a series of warrants, including:

•the offering price and aggregate number of warrants offered;

•the currency for which the warrants may be purchased;

•if applicable, the designation and terms of the securities with which the warrants are issued and the number of warrants issued with each such security or each principal amount of such security;

•if applicable, the date on and after which the warrants and the related securities will be separately transferable;

•in the case of warrants to purchase debt securities, the principal amount of debt securities purchasable upon exercise of one warrant and the price at, and currency in which, this principal amount of debt securities may be purchased upon such exercise;

•in the case of warrants to purchase common stock or preferred stock, the number of shares of common stock or preferred stock, as the case may be, purchasable upon the exercise of one warrant and the price at which these shares may be purchased upon such exercise;

•the effect of any merger, consolidation, sale or other disposition of our business on the warrant agreements and the warrants;

•the terms of any rights to redeem or call the warrants;

•any provisions for changes to or adjustments in the exercise price or number of securities issuable upon exercise of the warrants;

•the dates on which the right to exercise the warrants will commence and expire;

•the manner in which the warrant agreements and warrants may be modified;

•the material United States federal income tax consequences of holding or exercising the warrants;

•the terms of the securities issuable upon exercise of the warrants; and

•any other specific terms, preferences, rights or limitations of or restrictions on the warrants.

Before exercising their warrants, holders of warrants will not have any of the rights of holders of the securities purchasable upon such exercise, including:

•in the case of warrants to purchase debt securities, the right to receive payments of principal of, or premium, if any, or interest on, the debt securities purchasable upon exercise or to enforce covenants in the applicable indenture; or

•in the case of warrants to purchase common stock or preferred stock, the right to receive dividends, if any, or, payments upon our liquidation, dissolution or winding up or to exercise voting rights, if any.

Exercise of Warrants

Each warrant will entitle the holder to purchase the securities that we specify in the applicable prospectus supplement at the exercise price that we describe in the applicable prospectus supplement. Unless we otherwise specify in the applicable prospectus supplement, holders of the warrants may exercise the warrants at any time up to the specified time on the expiration date that we set forth in the applicable prospectus supplement. After the close of business on the expiration date, unexercised warrants will become void.

Holders of the warrants may exercise the warrants by delivering the warrant certificate representing the warrants to be exercised together with specified information, and paying the required amount to the warrant agent in immediately available funds, as provided in the applicable prospectus supplement. We will set forth on the reverse side of the warrant certificate and in the applicable prospectus supplement the information that the holder of the warrant will be required to deliver to the warrant agent.

Upon receipt of the required payment and the warrant certificate properly completed and duly executed at the corporate trust office of the warrant agent or any other office indicated in the applicable prospectus supplement, we will issue and deliver the securities purchasable upon such exercise. If fewer than all of the warrants represented by the warrant certificate are exercised, then we will issue a new warrant certificate for the remaining amount of warrants. If we so indicate in the applicable prospectus supplement, holders of the warrants may surrender securities as all or part of the exercise price for warrants.

Enforceability of Rights by Holders of Warrants

Each warrant agent will act solely as our agent under the applicable warrant agreement and will not assume any obligation or relationship of agency or trust with any holder of any warrant. A single bank or trust company may act as warrant agent for more than one issue of warrants. A warrant agent will have no duty or responsibility in case of any default by us under the applicable warrant agreement or warrant, including any duty or responsibility to initiate any proceedings at law or otherwise, or to make any demand upon us. Any holder of a warrant may, without the consent of the related warrant agent or the holder of any other warrant, enforce by appropriate legal action its right to exercise, and receive the securities purchasable upon exercise of, its warrants.

DESCRIPTION OF RIGHTS

General

We may issue rights to purchase common stock, preferred stock or the other securities described in this prospectus. This prospectus, any accompanying prospectus supplement, and any applicable free writing prospectus will contain the material terms and conditions for each right. The accompanying prospectus supplement may add, update or change the terms and conditions of the rights as described in this prospectus.

We will describe in the applicable prospectus supplement the terms and conditions of the issue of rights being offered, the rights agreement relating to the rights and the rights certificates representing the rights, including, as applicable:

•the title of the rights;

•the date of determining the stockholders entitled to the rights distribution;

•the title, aggregate number of shares of common stock, preferred stock or other securities purchasable upon exercise of the rights;

•the exercise price;

•the currencies in which the rights are being offered;

•the aggregate number of rights issued;

•the date, if any, on and after which the rights will be separately transferable;

•the date on which the right to exercise the rights will commence and the date on which the right will expire; and

•any other terms of the rights, including terms, procedures and limitations relating to the distribution, exchange and exercise of the rights.

Exercise of Rights

Each right will entitle the holder of rights to purchase for cash the principal amount of shares of common stock, preferred stock or other securities at the exercise price provided in the applicable prospectus supplement. Rights may be exercised at any time up to the close of business on the expiration date for the rights provided in the applicable prospectus supplement. After the close of business on the expiration date, all unexercised rights will be void.

Holders may exercise rights as described in the applicable prospectus supplement. Upon receipt of payment and the rights certificate properly completed and duly executed at the corporate trust office of the rights agent or any other office indicated in the prospectus supplement, we will, as soon as practicable, forward the shares of common stock, preferred stock, or other securities purchasable upon exercise of the rights. If less than all of the rights issued in any rights offering are exercised, we may offer any unsubscribed securities directly to persons other than stockholders, to or through agents, underwriters, brokers or dealers or through a combination of such methods, including pursuant to standby underwriting arrangements, as described in the applicable prospectus supplement.

DESCRIPTION OF UNITS

We will file as exhibits to the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part, or will incorporate by reference from a Current Report on Form 8-K that we file with the SEC, the form of unit agreement that describes the terms of the series of units we are offering, and any supplemental agreements, before the issuance of the related series of units. The following summaries of material terms and provisions of the units are subject to, and qualified in their entirety by reference to, all the provisions of the unit agreement and any supplemental agreements applicable to a particular series of units. We urge you to read the applicable prospectus supplements related to the particular series of units that we sell under this prospectus, as well as the complete unit agreement and any supplemental agreements that contain the terms of the units.

General

We may issue units comprised of one or more debt securities, shares of common stock, shares of preferred stock, warrants or rights in any combination. Each unit will be issued so that the holder of the unit is also the holder of each security included in the unit. Thus, the holder of a unit will have the rights and obligations of a holder of each included security. The unit agreement under which a unit is issued may provide that the securities included in the unit may not be held or transferred separately, at any time or at any time before a specified date.

We will describe in the applicable prospectus supplement the terms of the series of units, including:

•the designation and terms of the units and of the securities comprising the units, including whether and under what circumstances those securities may be held or transferred separately;

•any provisions of the governing unit agreement that differ from those described in this prospectus; and

•any provisions for the issuance, payment, settlement, transfer or exchange of the units or of the securities comprising the units.

The provisions described in this section, as well as those described under “Description of Capital Stock,” “Description of Debt Securities,” “Description of Warrants” and “Description of Rights” will apply to each unit and to any common stock, preferred stock, debt security, warrant or right included in each unit, respectively.

Issuance in Series

We may issue units in such amounts and in any number of distinct series as we determine.

Enforceability of Rights by Holders of Units

Each unit agent will act solely as our agent under the applicable unit agreement and will not assume any obligation or relationship of agency or trust with any holder of any unit. A single bank or trust company may act as unit agent for more than one series of units. A unit agent will have no duty or responsibility in case of any default by us under the applicable unit agreement or any security included in such unit, including any duty or responsibility to initiate any proceedings at law or otherwise, or to make any demand upon us. Any holder of a unit may, without the consent of the related unit agent or the holder of any other unit, enforce by appropriate legal action its rights as holder under any security included in the unit.

We, the unit agents and any of their agents may treat the registered holder of any unit certificate as an absolute owner of the units evidenced by that certificate for any purpose and as the person entitled to exercise the rights attaching to the units so requested, despite any notice to the contrary. See “Legal Ownership of Securities.”

LEGAL OWNERSHIP OF SECURITIES

We can issue securities in registered form or in the form of one or more global securities. We describe global securities in greater detail below. We refer to those persons who have securities registered in their own names on the books that we or any applicable trustee, depositary, warrant agent or other agent maintain for this purpose as the “holders” of those securities. These persons are the legal holders of the securities. We refer to those persons who, indirectly through others, own beneficial interests in securities that are not registered in their own names, as “indirect holders” of those securities. As we discuss below, indirect holders are not legal holders, and investors in securities issued in book-entry form or in street name will be indirect holders.

Book-Entry Holders

We may issue securities in book-entry form only, as will be specified in the applicable prospectus supplement. This means securities may be represented by one or more global securities registered in the name of a financial institution that holds them as depositary on behalf of other financial institutions that participate in the depositary’s book-entry system. These participating institutions, which are referred to as participants, in turn, hold beneficial interests in the securities on behalf of themselves or their customers.

Only the person in whose name a security is registered is recognized as the holder of that security. Global securities will be registered in the name of the depositary. Consequently, for global securities, we will recognize only the depositary as the holder of the securities, and we will make all payments on the securities to the depositary. The depositary passes along the payments it receives to its participants, which in turn pass the payments along to their customers who are the beneficial owners. The depositary and its participants do so under agreements they have made with one another or with their customers; they are not obligated to do so under the terms of the securities we may offer.

As a result, investors in a global security will not own securities directly. Instead, they will own beneficial interests in a global security, through a bank, broker or other financial institution that participates in the depositary’s book-entry system or holds an interest through a participant. As long as the securities are issued in global form, investors will be indirect holders, and not legal holders, of the securities.

Street Name Holders

We may terminate a global security or issue securities that are not issued in global form. In these cases, investors may choose to hold their securities in their own names or in “street name.” Securities held by an investor in street name would be registered in the name of a bank, broker or other financial institution that the investor chooses, and the investor would hold only a beneficial interest in those securities through an account he or she maintains at that institution.

For securities held in street name, we or any applicable trustee or depositary will recognize only the intermediary banks, brokers and other financial institutions in whose names the securities are registered as the holders of those securities, and we or any such trustee or depositary will make all payments on those securities to them. These institutions pass along the payments they receive to their customers who are the beneficial owners, but only because they agree to do so in their customer agreements or because they are legally required to do so. Investors who hold securities in street name will be indirect holders, not legal holders, of those securities.

Legal Holders

Our obligations, as well as the obligations of any applicable trustee, agent or third party employed by us or a trustee or any agents, run only to the legal holders of the securities. We do not have obligations to investors who hold beneficial interests in global securities, in street name or by any other indirect means. This will be the case whether an investor chooses to be an indirect holder of a security or has no choice because we are issuing the securities only in global form.

For example, once we make a payment or give a notice to the holder, we have no further responsibility for the payment or notice even if that holder is required, under agreements with its participants or customers or by law, to

pass it along to the indirect holders but does not do so. Similarly, we may want to obtain the approval of the holders to amend an indenture, to relieve us of the consequences of a default or of our obligation to comply with a particular provision of an indenture, or for other purposes. In such an event, we would seek approval only from the legal holders, and not the indirect holders, of the securities. Whether and how the legal holders contact the indirect holders is up to the legal holders.

When we refer to “you” in this prospectus, we mean those who invest in the securities being offered by this prospectus, whether they are the holders or only indirect holders of those securities. When we refer to “your securities” in this prospectus, we mean the securities in which you will hold a direct or indirect interest.

Special Considerations for Indirect Holders

If you hold securities through a bank, broker or other financial institution, either in book-entry form because the securities are represented by one or more global securities or in street name, you should check with your own institution to find out:

•how it handles securities payments and notices;

•whether it imposes fees or charges;

•how it would handle a request for the holders’ consent, if ever required;

•whether and how you can instruct it to send you securities registered in your own name so you can be a legal holder, if that is permitted in the future;

•how it would exercise rights under the securities if there were a default or other event triggering the need for holders to act to protect their interests; and

•if the securities are in book-entry form, how the depositary’s rules and procedures will affect these matters.

Global Securities

A global security is a security that represents one or any other number of individual securities held by a depositary. Generally, all securities represented by the same global securities will have the same terms.

Each security issued in book-entry form will be represented by a global security that we issue to, deposit with and register in the name of a financial institution or its nominee that we select. The financial institution that we select for this purpose is called the depositary. Unless we specify otherwise in the applicable prospectus supplement, The Depository Trust Company (“DTC”) will be the depositary for all securities we issue in book-entry form.

A global security may not be transferred to or registered in the name of anyone other than the depositary, its nominee or a successor depositary, unless special termination situations arise. We describe those situations below under “—Special Situations When A Global Security Will Be Terminated.” As a result of these arrangements, the depositary, or its nominee, will be the sole registered owner and legal holder of all securities represented by a global security, and investors will be permitted to own only beneficial interests in such global security. Beneficial interests must be held by means of an account with a broker, bank or other financial institution that in turn has an account with the depositary or with another institution that does. Thus, an investor whose security is represented by a global security will not be a legal holder of the security, but only an indirect holder of a beneficial interest in the global security.

If the prospectus supplement for a particular security indicates that the security will be issued as a global security, then the security will be represented by a global security at all times unless and until the global security is terminated. If termination occurs, we may issue the securities through another book-entry clearing system or decide that the securities may no longer be held through any book-entry clearing system.

Special Considerations For Global Securities

As an indirect holder, an investor’s rights relating to a global security will be governed by the account rules of the investor’s financial institution and of the depositary, as well as general laws relating to securities transfers. We do not recognize an indirect holder as a holder of securities and instead deal only with the depositary that holds the global security.

If securities are issued only as global securities, an investor should be aware of the following:

•an investor cannot cause the securities to be registered in his or her name, and cannot obtain non-global certificates for his or her interest in the securities, except in the special situations we describe below;

•an investor will be an indirect holder and must look to his or her own bank or broker for payments on the securities and protection of his or her legal rights relating to the securities, as we describe above;

•an investor may not be able to sell interests in the securities to some insurance companies and to other institutions that are required by law to own their securities in non-book-entry form;

•an investor may not be able to pledge his or her interest in the global security in circumstances where certificates representing the securities must be delivered to the lender or other beneficiary of the pledge in order for the pledge to be effective;

•the depositary’s policies, which may change from time to time, will govern payments, transfers, exchanges and other matters relating to an investor’s interest in the global security. We and any applicable trustee have no responsibility for any aspect of the depositary’s actions or for its records of ownership interests in the global security. We and the trustee also do not supervise the depositary in any way;

•the depositary may, and we understand that DTC will, require that those who purchase and sell interests in the global security within its book-entry system use immediately available funds, and your broker or bank may require you to do so as well; and

•financial institutions that participate in the depositary’s book-entry system, and through which an investor holds its interest in the global security, may also have their own policies affecting payments, notices and other matters relating to the securities. There may be more than one financial intermediary in the chain of ownership for an investor. We do not monitor and are not responsible for the actions of any of those intermediaries.

Special Situations When A Global Security Will Be Terminated

In a few special situations described below, a global security will terminate and interests in it will be exchanged for physical certificates representing those interests. After that exchange, the choice of whether to hold securities directly or in street name will be up to the investor. Investors must consult their own banks or brokers to find out how to have their interests in securities transferred to their own names, so that they will be direct holders. We have described the rights of holders and street name investors above.

Unless we provide otherwise in the applicable prospectus supplement, a global security will terminate when the following special situations occur:

•if the depositary notifies us that it is unwilling, unable or no longer qualified to continue as depositary for that global security and we do not appoint another institution to act as depositary within 90 days;

•if we notify any applicable trustee that we wish to terminate that global security; or

•if an event of default has occurred with regard to securities represented by that global security and has not been cured or waived.

The applicable prospectus supplement may also list additional situations for terminating a global security that would apply only to the particular series of securities covered by the prospectus supplement. If a global security is terminated, only the depositary, and not we, the trustee, the agent or other third party, as applicable, is responsible

for deciding the names of the institutions in whose names the securities represented by the global security will be registered and, therefore, who will be the direct holders of those securities.

LEGAL MATTERS

Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLP, Menlo Park, California will pass for us upon the validity of the securities being offered by this prospectus. If the securities are being distributed in an underwritten offering, certain legal matters will be passed upon for the underwriters by counsel identified in the related prospectus supplement.

EXPERTS

The financial statements of the Company incorporated by reference in this prospectus, and the effectiveness of the Company’s internal control over financial reporting have been audited by Deloitte & Touche LLP, an independent registered public accounting firm, as stated in their report. Such financial statements are incorporated by reference herein in reliance upon the report of such firm, given their authority as experts in accounting and auditing.

WHERE YOU CAN FIND ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

We file annual, quarterly and current reports, proxy statements and other information with the SEC. The SEC maintains an Internet website at http://www.sec.gov that contains reports, proxy and information statements, and other information regarding issuers that file electronically with the SEC, including Kratos. You may also access our reports and proxy statements free of charge at our Internet website, http://www.kratosdefense.com. The information contained in, or that can be accessed through, our website is not part of this prospectus. The prospectus included in this filing is part of a registration statement filed by us with the SEC. The full registration statement can be obtained from the SEC, as indicated above, or from us by writing to the address listed under “Incorporation of Certain Information by Reference” below.

This prospectus is part of a registration statement that we have filed with the SEC relating to the securities to be offered. This prospectus does not contain all of the information we have included in the registration statement and the accompanying exhibits and schedules in accordance with the rules and regulations of the SEC, and we refer you to the omitted information. The statements this prospectus makes pertaining to the content of any contract, agreement or other document that is an exhibit to the registration statement necessarily are summaries of their material provisions and do not describe all exceptions and qualifications contained in those contracts, agreements or documents. You should read those contracts, agreements or documents for information that may be important to you. The registration statement, exhibits and schedules are available at the SEC’s Internet website.

You should rely only on information in this prospectus or incorporated by reference herein. We have not authorized any person to provide you with different information. We are not making an offer of these securities in any state where the offer is not permitted. You should not assume that the information in this prospectus is accurate as of any date other than the date of the front page of this prospectus, regardless of the time of delivery of this prospectus or any sale of the securities offered by this prospectus.

INCORPORATION OF CERTAIN INFORMATION BY REFERENCE

The SEC allows us to incorporate by reference the information we file with it, which means that we can disclose important information to you by referring you to another document that we have filed separately with the SEC. The information incorporated by reference is considered to be a part of this prospectus. We hereby incorporate by reference the following information or documents into this prospectus:

•our Annual Report on Form 10‑K for the year ended December 31, 2023, filed with the SEC on February 13, 2024; and

•the description of our common stock contained in our Registration Statement on Form 8‑A (File No. 000-27231), filed under Section 12(g) of the Exchange Act on September 3, 1999, including any subsequent amendment or report filed for the purpose of amending such description, including Exhibit 4.4 to the Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 29, 2019 (filed with the SEC on February 24, 2020).

Any information in any of the foregoing documents will automatically be deemed to be modified or superseded to the extent that information in this prospectus or in a later filed document that is incorporated or deemed to be incorporated herein by reference modifies or replaces such information. Any statement so modified or superseded will not be deemed, except as so modified or superseded, to constitute a part of this prospectus.

We also incorporate by reference any future filings (other than information in current reports furnished under Item 2.02 or Item 7.01 of Form 8‑K and exhibits filed on such form that are related to such items) made with the SEC pursuant to Sections 13(a), 13(c), 14 or 15(d) of the Exchange Act, until the termination of the offering of the securities covered by this prospectus. Information in such future filings updates and supplements the information provided in this prospectus. Any statements in any such future filings will automatically be deemed to modify and supersede any information in any document we previously filed with the SEC that is incorporated or deemed to be incorporated herein by reference to the extent that statements in the later filed document modify or replace such earlier statements.

Upon written or oral request, we will provide to you, without charge, a copy of any or all of the documents that are incorporated by reference into this prospectus but not delivered with the prospectus, including exhibits which are specifically incorporated by reference into such documents. Requests should be directed to: Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc., Attention: Investor Relations, 10680 Treena St., Suite 600, San Diego, California 92131, telephone (858) 812‑7300.

16,666,667 Shares

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc.

Common Stock

Prospectus supplement

Baird

RBC Capital Markets

Truist Securities

B. Riley Securities

Raymond James

The Benchmark Company

Noble Capital Markets

Exhibit 107

Calculation of Filing Fee Tables

424(b)(5)
(Form Type)

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc.
(Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in its Charter)

Table 1: Newly Registered Securities

Security Type

Security Class Title

Fee Calculation Rule

Amount Registered(1)

Proposed Maximum Offering Price Per Share

Maximum Aggregate Offering Price

Fee Rate

Amount of Registration Fee(1)

Fees to Be Paid

Equity

Common Stock, $0.001 par value per share

Rules 457(c) and 457(h)

16,666,667

$18.00(2)

$300,000,006

$147.60 per million dollars

$44,280.00

Total Offering Amount

$300,000,006

$44,280.00

Total Fees Previously Paid

$—

Total Fee Offsets(2)

$—

Net Fee Due

$44,280.00

(1)All Calculated in accordance with Rule 457(r) of the United States Securities Act of 1933.

(2)The Registrant does not have any fee offsets.

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