*

Castelion secures contracts to integrate Blackbeard

hypersonic

weapon with Army and Navy

*

Blackbeard designed for mass production at fraction of

legacy

weapons' cost

*

Missiles can change direction while traveling at several

times

the speed of sound

By Mike Stone

WASHINGTON, Oct 24 (Reuters) - Defense startup Castelion

said on Friday it has won contracts to integrate its Blackbeard

hypersonic strike weapon with current U.S. Army systems, the

first step toward allowing the military to place the powerful

and nearly unstoppable weapons around the world.

The U.S. 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.

U.S. companies like Castelion, Stratolaunch, RTX's Raytheon

, unit and Lockheed Martin ( LMT ), are all working to

develop hypersonic arms, which could translate to large

contracts.

Terms of the integration contracts with both the Army and Navy

were not disclosed in a statement from Castelion. U.S. President

Donald Trump's 2026 budget request to Congress - yet to be

enacted - earmarked $25 million for future similar integration.

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.