Castelion announced that the U.S. Navy awarded $49,998,005 to advance Blackbeard from prototype to integrated, early operational capability. This order provides full-scale prototypes, flight testing, and operational fielding to continue to expedite the Blackbeard Hypersonic Weapons development, integration, testing, and early operational capability in support of Small Business Innovation Research Phase III effort, topic AF231-D026, entitled “Low Cost Highly Manufacturable Long Range Strike Weapon Production.” Work will be performed in Torrance, California, and is expected to be completed in November 2027. Fiscal 2026 research, development, test and evaluation (Navy) funds in the amount of $49,998,005 will be obligated at the time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract action was competed. Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division, Lakehurst, New Jersey, is the contracting activity.
Blackbeard, Castelion’s first product, is engineered for mass production and rapid fielding from inception. Blackbeard is Castelion’s first long-range, hypersonic strike weapon, designed for mass production and rapid fielding once integration and testing are complete.The system leverages vertically integrated propulsion and guidance subsystems to achieve performance at a fraction of the cost of legacy weapons, supporting the Department of War’s objective of building credible, nonnuclear deterrent capacity at scale. The Blackbeard contract award supports the U.S. Navy’s strategy to pursue new approaches to quickly move capability to the Fleet while maintaining operational rigor. Castelion continues to collaborate with Government and industry partners to advance the affordability, manufacturability, and readiness of next-generation strike systems for the joint force.
