Overview
- The Navy awarded Castelion a $23.4 million firm-fixed-price order for 50 Blackbeard pre-production prototypes and 50 storage and shipping containers with primary work in Rio Rancho, New Mexico and supporting work in Torrance, California and completion expected in 2027.
- Castelion says the purchase is a deliberate step to move Blackbeard from flight testing into early production and to test industrial-rate manufacturing at its Project Ranger campus after more than $250 million in investment.
- The program still requires additional safety checks, certification, command-and-control work, and further flight and integration tests before wider deployment can occur.
- Castelion is continuing platform integration efforts, including a prior Navy contract to adapt Blackbeard for the F/A-18, and plans a 2027 maritime-launch demonstration with partner Saronic to explore launches from an unmanned surface vessel.
- The small prototype order reflects the Navy’s stepwise procurement approach to hypersonic weapons by buying limited units to exercise supply chains and production capacity before committing to larger buys.