A Castelion hypersonic vehicle is test launched in the Mojave Desert, March 9 2024 (photo credit: REUTERS)

Defense startup Castelion said on Friday it has won contracts to integrate its Blackbeard hypersonic strike weapon with current US Army systems, the first step toward allowing the military to place the powerful and nearly unstoppable weapons around the world.

The US and China are engaged in an arms race to develop the most lethal hypersonic weapons, which travel in the upper atmosphere at more than five times the speed of sound and are designed to evade traditional defenses.

Castelion will work with the Army to incorporate the Blackbeard weapon system onto operational platforms like the Army’s High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS).

HIMARS is now a widely recognized weapon after footage from the war in Ukraine showed the launchers in action.

US companies like Castelion, Stratolaunch, RTX’s Raytheon RTX.N, unit and Lockheed Martin LMT.N, are all working to develop hypersonic arms, which could translate to large contracts.

M142 HIMARS launches a rocket during an exercise in Poland; illustrative. (credit: Shutterstock/Mike Mareen)

Unlike traditional ballistic missiles that follow predictable trajectories, hypersonic weapons can change course during flight, making them extremely difficult to intercept with conventional air defense systems.

Terms of the integration contracts with both the Army and Navy were not disclosed in a statement from Castelion. US President Donald Trump’s 2026 budget request to Congress – yet to be enacted – earmarked $25 million for future similar integration.

According to the Army’s proposed budget for the 2026 Fiscal year, “the mission of Blackbeard Ground Launch (GL) is to attack/neutralize/suppress/destroy using hypersonic missile delivered precision fires (seeker based) against time sensitive moving targets and hardened targets at a much-reduced cost per missile than currently exists in the Army inventory. Blackbeard Ground Launch (GL) is an affordable, mass-produced hypersonic weapon designed for mid-range precision. The Army will leverage advancements in technology, materials, and cost-effective production methods to provide superior capabilities through fast, iterative design cycles, flexible hardware development, and modern manufacturing practices.”

Blackbeard, Castelion’s first hypersonic strike weapon, is designed for mass production and rapid fielding at a fraction of the cost of legacy weapons.

The company aims to produce thousands of the weapons annually at full rate production, with a target cost in the hundreds of thousands of dollars per unit. The contracts are a significant step in broadening the hypersonic weapon options for the Pentagon which seeks to field more affordable strike capabilities.

China and Russia both have competitive hypersonic weapons programs in what has become a geopolitical race to develop and field missiles that can change direction while traveling at several times the speed of sound.

Anna Ahronheim contributed to this report.

[H/T The Jerusalem Post]