US Navy offers first look at ‘Blackbeard’ hypersonic cruise missile
The navy issued a $200 million production contract for nearly 500 of the Mach 5 weapons.
The US Navy is offering up the first images of its new air-launched hypersonic missile dubbed “Blackbeard”.
In footage released on 25 September, two of the all-black weapons are carried by a Boeing F/A-18F Super Hornet, mounted on the two inner-wing weapon stations on either side of the centreline. The two-seat fighter bears the “SD” tail code of the navy’s Air Test and Evaluation Squadron 23 (VX-23).
The two-seat fighter can be seen performing at least one aerobatic manoeuvre – an aileron roll – with the missiles mounted, indicating the maturity level of the test programme.
“Blackbeard is an air-launched, hypersonic strike weapon that provides carrier-based strike fighters with a responsive, long-range, high-speed strike option against maritime and land targets, enhancing survivability against advanced air defences while significantly increasing magazine depth,” the US Navy says.
The Blackbeard will be capable of breaking the Mach 5 hypersonic barrierSource: US Navy
The navy has not confirmed further details of its plans for the Blackbeard, such as whether the new missile will be compatible with the service’s other carrier-capable strike fighter – the Lockheed Martin F-35C.
The Multi-Mission Affordable Capacity Effector programme that spawned the Blackbeard had initially specified the new weapon systems would have to be sized so that four could be carried internally by the F-35.
Last week, the navy awarded a contract worth up to $200 million for Blackbeard production to the California start-up Castelion.
The service says those funds will cover the manufacturing, assembly, testing and delivery of the first Blackbeard production lot of 444 all-up round missile assemblies, which includes a fully functional tactical missile packaged within a specialised shipping and storage container.
“This production award is a testament to what is possible when the navy aligns agile acquisition with commercial manufacturing discipline. We are putting game-changing hypersonic capability into the hands of our warfighters, dramatically expanding the lethal reach of naval aviation,” says Vice Admiral John Dougherty IV, commander of the navy’s Portfolio Acquisition Executive for Aviation and Naval Air Systems Command.
An additional 50 early operational-capability missiles were ordered by the navy in June.
“The navy’s decision to move into production reflects its confidence in the Blackbeard programme and the progress we’ve made together,” says Bryon Hargis, chief executive of Castelion. “Blackbeard was engineered from day one for the production line, and we look forward to delivering this capability to the fleet.”
Castelion says work on Blackbeard production will take place at the company’s manufacturing campus in Rio Rancho, New Mexico, and main headquarters in Torrance, California.
The company, which was founded in 2022, says its objective is to “restore America’s ability to field advanced weapons at speed and scale” by combining “rapid iteration, vertical integration and scalable manufacturing to deliver affordable, high-performance strike systems”.
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