U.S. Navy chief gets first look at Blackbeard hypersonic missile

The U.S. Navy’s top officer, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Daryl Caudle, got a close look at Blackbeard, the new air-launched hypersonic strike missile that the Navy is preparing to arm its F/A-18E/F Super Hornets with, during a visit to Naval Air Station Patuxent River in Maryland on Oct. 28, the U.S. Navy said.

Caudle was briefed on the missile and examined it at Air Test and Evaluation Squadron 23, the Pax River unit that flight-tests weapons on Navy strike fighters. Castelion, the company that builds Blackbeard, marked the visit on social media with a post addressed to the Navy chief: “meet Blackbeard.” The Navy described the weapon as a long-range hypersonic strike missile that was recently flight-tested aboard a Super Hornet at Pax River, but did not release new details on its range, speed or test schedule.

Blackbeard is built to fly at more than five times the speed of sound and maneuver inside the atmosphere, which makes it much harder to intercept than a ballistic missile on a predictable arc. Castelion, a company founded by former SpaceX engineers in Torrance, California, has designed it to be cheaper and faster to build than existing U.S. hypersonic weapons, which cost millions of dollars each and are produced in small numbers.

The missile’s integration on the Super Hornet has moved quickly in public. A Navy presentation in August showed two Blackbeard test articles under the wing of a Super Hornet. On Sept. 18, a Super Hornet took off from Pax River carrying two of the missiles on a developmental test flight to check that the jet could safely carry them, and both returned without being released. The Navy published video of that flight on Sept. 25. The Navy plans for each Super Hornet to carry up to four Blackbeards.

“Endurance is such a crucial part of modern warfare, and then we see in spades the need to adapt quickly; the upgradability of airframes is so important,” said Caudle, speaking to personnel during the visit.

The Navy has been buying Blackbeard in growing numbers. In April, it gave Castelion a $105 million contract to finish integrating the missile on the Super Hornet, with live-fire tests planned in the Indo-Pacific. In June, it ordered 50 pre-production missiles for $23.4 million, and in September it placed a production order worth up to $200 million, which USNI News reported covers 444 missiles. Earlier this year, the Department of War also signed a framework agreement committing to buy a minimum of 500 Blackbeards a year once testing is complete, and said it would seek funding for more than 12,000 over five years.

Blackbeard is not limited to the Super Hornet. Castelion is working on versions for the U.S. Army’s HIMARS rocket launcher, began integration work on the F-16 under an Air Force Research Laboratory contract last month, and plans to launch it from Saronic’s Marauder unmanned surface vessel in 2027.

The Navy is aiming for Blackbeard to reach early operational capability, the point at which a small number of missiles can be used by the fleet, and said developmental flight testing at Pax River will continue toward future live-fire milestones. It has not said when the first live launch from a Super Hornet will take place.