TheTechno Optimist.

BlackbeardCastelion—US Navy awards Castelion $200M for Blackbeard production; first 50 units at under $500K eachBlackbeardCastelion—Blackbeard hypersonic missile successfully tested from F/A-18 Super HornetBlackbeardCastelion—Castelion selected for MACE program with $50M initial awardCastelion—Castelion closes $350M Series B led by Altimeter and LightspeedBlackbeardCastelion—Castelion awarded $23.4M for Blackbeard pre-production prototypes

Castelion

Blackbeard hypersonic missile, air-launched strike

US$1.5B est. privateest. 2022castelion.com (opens castelion.com)Checked 10 Oct

The brief

Analyst view
  • Founded in 2022 by former SpaceX engineers, Castelion raised $350 million in Series B in 2026.
  • The Navy awarded $200 million for Blackbeard production in September 2026, with 50 missiles in the first order.
  • Each missile costs under $500,000, designed to arm F-35 and F/A-18 fighters with a 200-nautical-mile strike range.

Technical approach

As reported
Launch

Air-launched from fighters

Blackbeard mounts on aircraft pylons, carried aloft by F-35 or F/A-18 before release, avoiding ground-based launch infrastructure.

Speed

Hypersonic flight

Travels at Mach 5 and above, reducing enemy reaction time for air defense compared to subsonic cruise missiles.

Cost

Low per-unit expense

Estimated under $500,000 per missile, enabling the Navy to procure hundreds rather than tens, as with earlier hypersonic programs.

Scale

Rapid production ramp

Facilities in El Segundo, California, and Rio Rancho, New Mexico support fast scaling to meet Navy production contracts.

Primer