Overview
- The delivery order, announced Sept. 14, 2026, is an SBIR Phase III production delivery order worth up to $200 million that formally moves Blackbeard from prototypes to an initial production lot.
- Defense contract records and reporting show the award authorizes delivery of 444 All‑Up Rounds with about $43.65 million obligated now and deliveries scheduled through September 2028.
- Work will be done mostly at Castelion’s Project Ranger manufacturing campus in Rio Rancho, New Mexico, with additional production at the Torrance, California facility.
- Blackbeard is an air‑launched hypersonic strike weapon chosen for the Navy’s MACE portfolio to give carrier fighters like the F/A‑18E/F and F‑35 a roughly 200‑nautical‑mile standoff, lower‑cost option to deepen magazines.
- Key uncertainties remain before larger buys happen, including repeated flight testing, full aircraft integration and certification, validated unit costs and future congressional appropriations despite private funding and Pentagon interest in much larger purchases.