Overview
- The Navy awarded a Small Business Innovation Research Phase III production delivery order worth up to $200 million on Monday, Sept. 14, 2026, to transition Blackbeard from prototypes into an initial production lot.
- Castelion will manufacture, assemble, test and deliver the initial all‑up rounds at its Project Ranger campus in Rio Rancho, New Mexico, and at its Torrance, California facility.
- Blackbeard is an air‑launched hypersonic strike weapon designed to give carrier‑based fighters a long‑range, high‑speed option that increases magazine depth and improves survivability against advanced defenses.
- The award uses 2026 congressional acquisition reforms and heavy private investment to speed fielding and cut redundant engineering work, building on a June tranche of 50 Early Operational Capability rounds.
- Broader procurement now depends on independent verification of unit costs and repeatable low‑cost production, successful flight and integration testing and safety certification, and continued congressional funding—changes that could alter how the Navy buys munitions.