The U.S. Navy has awarded defense startup Castelion a $200 million production delivery order for its Blackbeard hypersonic missile, the service announced Tuesday. The weapon is described as a low-cost, scalable, air-launched hypersonic strike weapon that can be fielded across carrier strike groups, providing carrier-based strike fighters with a responsive, long-range, high-speed strike option against maritime and land targets.
The Navy championed the contract as one of the first successful examples of the Department of the Navy Rapid Capabilities Office and how it “has adapted its acquisition structure to more rapidly meet the needs of the warfighter,” according to the service’s press release.
According to Inside Defense, Blackbeard is intended to serve as a standoff weapon with a 200-nautical-mile range, arming aircraft including the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter and the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet.
The award leverages the Small Business Innovation Development Act from the 2026 National Defense Authorization Act “to rapidly transition successful technology developed through private capital investment directly into production,” the Navy said. The approach “reduces millions of dollars in redundant, non-recurring engineering costs while introducing aggressive commercial competition into the munitions production ecosystem,” according to the release.
The latest contract follows a series of related awards to Castelion. In February, the Navy awarded the startup nearly $50 million after selecting Blackbeard for its Multimission Affordable Capacity Effector (MACE) program. The Navy earmarked $156 million in its fiscal 2027 budget request to procure 353 MACE missiles. In June, the Navy awarded the company $23.4 million for pre-production prototypes and 50 associated storage and shipping containers, according to Castelion.
The Navy has long sought an air-launched hypersonic anti-surface missile and, since 2021, pursued an air-breathing hypersonic cruise missile through the program dubbed Hypersonic Air-Launched Offensive Anti-Surface Warfare (HALO). In subsequent years, Raytheon and Lockheed Martin competed for that contract, with the Navy hoping to field HALO before 2030. However, the service scrapped the program in 2024, citing budgetary constraints.
Sources: Defence Blog · Defence Blog