U.S. Navy Awards $200M For Blackbeard Hypersonic Strike Missile Production

The U.S. Navy has awarded defence technology company Castelion up to $200 million to produce its Blackbeard hypersonic missile for carrier-based fighter jets.

The order covers the manufacture, assembly, testing and delivery of an initial batch of missiles, Castelion said. It comes after the Navy ordered 50 Blackbeards for early operational use in June.

The Navy is developing Blackbeard as a long-range strike weapon for carrier aircraft. It is also looking for lower-cost missiles that can increase the number of weapons available to its forces.

Blackbeard is launched from aircraft and can be used against targets on land and at sea. The Navy says it will give carrier-based fighters another long-range strike option against advanced air-defence systems.

The latest order was issued by the Navy’s rapid capabilities office and Portfolio Acquisition Executive Aviation office through a Small Business Innovation Research Phase III production delivery order.

The Navy selected Blackbeard for its Multimission Affordable Capacity Effector (MACE) programme in February. It awarded Castelion nearly $50 million at the time to speed up development and prototype production.

Blackbeard has a stated range of 200 nautical miles and is intended for aircraft including the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter and F/A-18E/F Super Hornet.

The Navy plans to carry up to four Blackbeards on an F/A-18E/F Super Hornet during strike missions. The missile is designed to travel at more than Mach 5.

Blackbeard has a smaller warhead than weapons such as the AGM-84 Harpoon and AGM-158C Long-Range Anti-Ship Missile. Its high speed and range are intended to give carrier aircraft another way to attack targets from a distance.

The missile is part of an effort by the Navy to add new weapons to its carrier aircraft. Other programmes include new variants of the AGM-158C Long-Range Anti-Ship Missile and AGM-88G Advanced Anti-Radiation Guided Missile.

The Navy has also revealed the AIM-242 Malice and AIM-174B air-to-air missiles. These weapons are intended to give carrier strike aircraft longer-range options against land, sea and air targets.

Blackbeard Production

Castelion is aiming to keep the cost of a Blackbeard missile at around $500,000. The company wants the lower price to make large-scale production possible.

A Pentagon announcement in July said the U.S. military was interested in buying up to 12,000 Blackbeards through a five-year procurement plan.

The Navy’s fiscal year 2027 budget request includes $156 million for 353 MACE missiles. This would be the first year of official procurement for the programme. The money was requested through budget reconciliation rather than the base budget.

The Navy is also working with Castelion to prepare Blackbeard for use from the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet.

In April, the Navy awarded Castelion $105 million to integrate the missile with the fighter and carry out the testing and certification needed for carrier operations.

The Navy is targeting early operational capability in 2027.

Castelion will produce the missile at its Project Ranger manufacturing campus in Rio Rancho, New Mexico, and at its facility in Torrance, California.

Castelion CEO Bryon Hargis said the order would help the company get the weapon to the fleet faster and reduce delays.

The company is also working on another launch option. In June, Castelion announced a partnership with Saronic to integrate Blackbeard with the Marauder medium unmanned surface vessel. A demonstration is planned for 2027.

Castelion raised $1 billion in August to support larger-scale Blackbeard production and work on longer-range strike and defensive systems.

References: usni, thedefensepost