U.S. to test Blackbeard hypersonic missile on F/A-18 fighter jet to strike before defenses react.

The United States plans to test the Blackbeard hypersonic missile from an F/A-18 fighter jet following a February 2026 Navy contract supporting prototype development and flight trials.

Castelion confirmed plans to flight test the Blackbeard hypersonic missile from an F/A-18 fighter jet, following a US Navy contract awarded in February 2026. The development program, managed by the Naval Air Warfare Center, aims to create an air-launched hypersonic missile exceeding Mach 5 to reduce the time available for enemy air defense systems to detect and intercept incoming strikes.
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A Blackbeard hypersonic missile carried by the F/A-18 would introduce a strike capability with significantly higher speed and potentially longer reach than most munitions currently carried, reducing the reaction time available to defensive systems. (Picture source: Castelion)

On March 3, 2026, Castelion confirmed to Axios that an air-launched variant of its Blackbeard hypersonic missile is expected to fly aboard an F/A-18 fighter in the near future, marking the first known step toward integrating the weapon with a carrier-capable combat aircraft. The integration effort forms part of a broader development program aimed at transitioning Blackbeard from prototype demonstrations toward operational capability across multiple launch methods. The missile has already undergone repeated developmental flight tests and is being evaluated for both aerial and ground-based deployment concepts. The planned F/A-18 flight would expand the weapon’s operational envelope by enabling launch from a tactical aircraft already widely used for strike missions.

This integration effort occurs as the United States continues to expand work on hypersonic weapons designed to travel faster than Mach 5 and maneuver within the atmosphere to complicate interception. The F/A-18 flight effort is linked to a $49,998,005 firm-fixed-price contract awarded to Castelion by the U.S. Navy on February 25, 2026. The order funds the development of full-scale prototypes, flight testing, and early operational capability for the Blackbeard hypersonic strike weapon. Work will take place primarily in Torrance, California, and is scheduled to continue through November 2027. The contract falls under a Small Business Innovation Research Phase III program focused on low-cost, highly manufacturable long-range strike weapons.

Funding for the project comes from the fiscal year 2026 Navy research, development, test, and evaluation accounts, and the Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division in Lakehurst, New Jersey, manages the contracting activity. Castelion, founded in 2022 by former aerospace engineers, has focused its development strategy on building hypersonic strike systems designed for rapid production and lower unit costs compared with earlier programs. Blackbeard is engineered with vertically integrated propulsion and guidance systems intended to streamline development cycles and manufacturing.

Development testing has included more than twenty flight trials using experimental vehicles to evaluate propulsion systems, aerodynamic stability, control surfaces, onboard computing systems, and thermal protection during high-speed flight. A flight test occurred near Mojave, California, in October, and another launch took place at Dugway Proving Ground in November 2025. These iterative test campaigns support refinement of propulsion performance, flight control software, and the missile’s structural durability under sustained hypersonic conditions. The program also includes a ground-launched configuration intended for the M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System. In that configuration, the missile would be fired from a modified Multiple Launch Rocket System family munition pod compatible with existing HIMARS launchers.

The concept focuses on delivering seeker-based precision strikes against moving or hardened targets while maintaining compatibility with existing fire control systems. Blackbeard is intended to provide roughly 80 percent of the planned capability of the Precision Strike Missile Increment 4 while remaining significantly less expensive to produce. With a projected range approaching 800 kilometers, the Blackbeard missile occupies a capability space between conventional rocket artillery munitions and strategic hypersonic systems such as the Long Range Hypersonic Weapon. As Castelion's Blackbeard missile is designed to reach hypersonic velocity, this means that it will have a top speed of at least Mach 5 or higher, which corresponds to more than 6,100 km/h.

Early flight tests have reportedly reached Mach 4, about 4,900 km/h, but the company expects to exceed Mach 5 in upcoming test campaigns. Industrial expansion is underway to support large-scale production if the system reaches operational deployment. Castelion has launched Project Ranger, a manufacturing campus covering 1,000 acres in Rio Rancho, near Albuquerque in Sandoval County, New Mexico. The site includes plans for twenty-one industrial structures supporting propulsion manufacturing, system integration, and final assembly. The facility is intended to become the largest dedicated hypersonic missile production complex in the United States. The company expects the full site to become operational by the end of 2026 and aims to produce several thousand Blackbeard missiles annually once manufacturing reaches full capacity.

Castelion has also expanded operations in Texas and California to support development and testing activities connected to the missile program. The F/A-18 Hornet is an all-weather, twin-engine, carrier-capable multirole fighter designed to conduct both air-to-air combat and ground attack missions. Developed by McDonnell Douglas with Northrop as a partner, the aircraft first flew on November 18, 1978, and entered operational service with the U.S. Marine Corps on January 7, 1983, followed by the U.S. Navy on July 1, 1984. A total of 1,480 F/A-18A, B, C, and D variants were built between 1974 and 2000. The aircraft has a top speed of Mach 1.8 at 40,000 feet and uses two General Electric F404 turbofan engines. Its design incorporates digital fly-by-wire flight controls, leading-edge extensions for high-angle maneuvering, and reinforced structures for catapult launches and arrested carrier landings.

The Hornet has served in missions including fleet air defense, suppression of enemy air defenses, strike operations, close air support, and reconnaissance. The aircraft has participated in multiple combat operations since entering service, including the 1986 U.S. air strikes against Libya, the 1991 Gulf War, operations over Bosnia and Kosovo during the 1990s, and the 2003 Iraq War. In naval aviation service, the Hornet gradually replaced aircraft such as the A-7 Corsair II and F-4 Phantom II. Later developments led to the introduction of the larger F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, which replaced earlier variants in U.S. Navy carrier air wings. Legacy Navy Hornets were retired from active naval service in 2019 as the F-35C Lightning II entered operational deployment. The U.S. Marine Corps continues to operate F/A-18C and D variants and plans to keep them in service until 2030 as the F-35B gradually replaces them. 

Integrating the Blackbeard missile onto the F/A-18 could expand the aircraft’s strike envelope by providing a hypersonic long-range attack capability alongside its existing weapons inventory. The Hornet currently carries a wide range of air-to-air missiles, guided bombs, and anti-ship weapons, but most of these operate at subsonic or supersonic speeds rather than hypersonic velocity. A missile traveling above Mach 5 significantly reduces the time available for target defenses to react and intercept. Combined with a projected range of several hundred kilometers, such a weapon would allow the F/A-18 to strike moving or hardened targets more quickly from greater stand-off distances. This capability, already tested with the Hypersonic Attack Cruise Missile (HACM) and the SCIFiRE program, could complement the F/A-18's existing strike options by enabling faster engagement of time-sensitive targets during high-intensity combat operations.

Written by Jérôme Brahy

Jérôme Brahy is a defense analyst and documentalist at Army Recognition. He specializes in naval modernization, aviation, drones, armored vehicles, and artillery, with a focus on strategic developments in the United States, China, Ukraine, Russia, Türkiye, and Belgium. His analyses go beyond the facts, providing context, identifying key actors, and explaining why defense news matters on a global scale.