Castelion lands its first Navy production order for the Blackbeard hypersonic
A startup founded in 2022 just moved a low-cost hypersonic out of flight testing and toward fielding, the attritable-mass model the Pentagon now wants for deterrence.
A startup founded in 2022 just moved a low-cost hypersonic out of flight testing and toward fielding, the attritable-mass model the Pentagon now wants for deterrence.
The U.S. Navy awarded Castelion its first delivery order for the Blackbeard hypersonic weapon, a $23.4 million firm-fixed-price deal for 50 early operational capability pre-production prototypes and 50 storage and shipping containers, Naval Today reported. The Pentagon booked the contract on June 11.
This is the order that moves Blackbeard out of flight testing. Castelion calls it a step toward "operationally relevant production," and the work sits under a Small Business Innovation Research Phase III line titled "Low Cost Highly Manufacturable Long Range Strike Weapon Production," Defense Daily reported. The company went from clean-sheet design to more than 25 flight tests in under two and a half years, and has put over $250 million into Project Ranger, a 1,000-acre hypersonic manufacturing campus in New Mexico.
The order follows a roughly $105 million Navy contract in April to integrate Blackbeard onto the F/A-18 and reach early operational capability in 2027. Castelion and the naval-drone maker Saronic, both founded in late 2022, plan to fire a Blackbeard from a Marauder uncrewed surface vessel in a 2027 demonstration, which the two firms say would be the first hypersonic launch from a USV.
The wedge is in the phrase "low-cost." Hypersonics have been the province of legacy primes and billion-dollar unit math. Castelion is selling cheap, manufacturable strike weapons built at industrial rate, the same attritable-mass logic now reshaping drones and autonomy. "Blackbeard was designed from the beginning to support our nation's conventional deterrence," CEO Bryon Hargis said.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What exactly did the Navy order?
A $23.4 million firm-fixed-price order for 50 Blackbeard early operational capability pre-production prototypes and 50 storage and shipping containers, booked by the Pentagon on June 11, per Naval Today. It is Castelion's first delivery order for the weapon.
Why does this order matter?
It moves Blackbeard out of flight testing toward what Castelion calls "operationally relevant production." The work falls under a Small Business Innovation Research Phase III line for low-cost, manufacturable long-range strike weapons, per Defense Daily.
What is Castelion?
A defense startup founded in late 2022 that builds low-cost hypersonic strike weapons. It went from clean-sheet design to more than 25 flight tests in under two and a half years and has invested over $250 million in a 1,000-acre New Mexico manufacturing campus called Project Ranger, per Defense Daily and Naval Today.
How does the Saronic partnership fit in?
Castelion and the naval-drone maker Saronic plan to fire a Blackbeard from a Marauder uncrewed surface vessel in a 2027 demonstration, which the companies say would be the first hypersonic launch from a USV, per Naval News.
What comes next?
A roughly $105 million Navy contract awarded in April covers integrating Blackbeard onto the F/A-18 and reaching early operational capability in 2027, per Naval Today.
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Marcus Schuler
Marcus Schuler edits BattlePolicy, a daily defense-technology brief connecting the companies and capabilities behind modern war to the contest among Europe, the US, Russia, and China.