Castelion puts a $450,000 hypersonic missile under a Super Hornet's wing
The ex-SpaceX startup published its missile on a Navy Super Hornet and claims 80% of Lockheed's PrSM capability at a much lower price. The order trail says the Pentagon believes it.
Vincent Jiangtwo-minute read
Castelion~$1B — Castelion, private, latest valuation ~$1B, the Torrance, California missile startup founded in 2022 by three former SpaceX+9.50% — SpaceX, up 9.50 percent today executives, published a photograph on November 2 of its Blackbeard hypersonic missile hanging under the wing of a U.S 1. Navy F/A-18F Super Hornet 1. The shot was taken October 28 at Naval Air Station Patuxent River during a visit by the Navy's top admiral, Chief of Naval Operations Adm 12. Daryl Caudle, at the squadron that runs the service's weapons testing 12.
Blackbeard has completed flight tests on Super Hornets, carrying two unarmed rounds on a September 18 sortie, but the Navy has announced no date for a live launch 23.
The claim nobody has priced against the primes
With the photo came a price signal: Castelion says Blackbeard is intended to deliver "80% of the capability of the PrSM Inc 1. 4 missile" at a substantially lower price 1. PrSM, the Precision Strike Missile, is Lockheed Martin's−1.24% — Lockheed Martin, down 1.24 percent today Army program, the 1,000-km round fired from HIMARS and M270 launchers 6.
In September the Army moved PrSM Increment 2 into production with an indefinite-delivery contract worth up to $1.2 billion to Lockheed 6. A ground-launched Blackbeard for those same launchers would undercut that price directly: if the Navy pays about $450,000 a round and Lockheed's program is measured in billion-dollar production contracts, the primes must either defend a price umbrella the Navy has already stopped paying or match a startup's cost structure 6.
Castelion is also adapting Blackbeard for the Air Force's F-16 under an Air Force Research Laboratory contract, with the F-35A named as a potential launcher 15.
From prototype to 444 rounds in five months
Castelion's Blackbeard awards grew from $105M to $200M in five months
Data
| US$ millions | |
|---|---|
| April 2026: Navy integration | 105 |
| June 2026: 50 pre-production rounds | 23.4 |
| Sept 2026: 444 production rounds | 200 |
The Navy's September production order covers 444 missiles for up to $200 million, about $450,000 a round, after 50 pre-production rounds in June at roughly $468,000 each 2. Fortune reported the missile could cost under $500,000, and the Pentagon has sketched a framework for at least 500 missiles a year and plans to seek funding for more than 12,000 units over five years 3.
What a photograph cannot show
The caution stands: no live launch from a Super Hornet has been announced, and every figure here is an order or a company claim, not fielded capability 2. Air Force officials also put that service's munitions supply gap at $14 billion, so the buyer is squeezed too 4. Watch the Army's PrSM down-select: a cheap round that meets 80% of the requirement forces Lockheed, RTX, Anduril$123.86B — Anduril, private, latest valuation $123.86B and Mach Industries~$570M — Mach Industries, private, latest valuation ~$570M to reprice, and Lockheed's Dark Eagle is reportedly three years behind schedule 3.
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