Castelion Secures $105 Million Contract for Hypersonic Weapon Integration
Castelion, a defense startup, has been awarded a $105 million contract by the U.S. Navy to continue the development and integration of its Blackbeard hypersonic strike weapon on the F/A-18 aircraft. The contract includes system safety assessments, flight trials, and hardware and software integration. Castelion aims to achieve Early Operational Capability for the weapon by 2027. This contract builds on a previous $49.9 million award to advance Blackbeard from prototype to initial capability. The company is also investing in a large-scale production facility in New Mexico to support hypersonic munitions production. 
