Gov. Mike Braun attended a groundbreaking for the project in September. In an Oct. 14 statement, he said Kratos’ decision to expand less than two years after beginning work in Indiana reflected the state’s defense industry and workforce. The statement did not give a cost or projected job count for the two new facilities.

One building, the approximately 183,000-square-foot Indiana Radar Integration Complex, is intended to support repair, testing, integration and maintenance of the Navy’s AN/SPY-1 radar system. The other, the Helios Arc Jet & Laser Facility, will provide testing infrastructure for thermal protection systems used on hypersonic vehicles, according to Kratos.

Company President and CEO Eric DeMarco said the facilities are part of Kratos’ investment in defense capabilities and would provide equipment and systems for the military. The company says the hypersonics testing facility is intended to complement the country’s existing testing infrastructure and support all branches of the armed forces.

The expansion follows Kratos’ completion in July of a separate, $50 million hypersonic-systems integration facility in Indiana. That project was expected to create more than 100 high-tech jobs; the company and state officials did not specify whether those jobs have been filled or how many additional positions the new facilities could bring.

Indiana Secretary of Commerce Chuck Goodrich pointed to the state’s defense-related assets, including Naval Surface Warfare Center Crane, as part of the reason Indiana can attract companies in the sector. Daviess County Commissioner Nathan Gabhart said he expects the project to appeal to local engineers and college graduates, but offered no hiring estimates.

Kratos’ expansion adds to Indiana’s effort to grow its defense industry and its ties to federal military work. The new facilities’ local economic impact will depend in part on hiring plans that have not yet been made public.