US turns to low-cost Blackbeard hypersonic missiles to overwhelm Chinese defences

The US Navy aims to field a relatively low-cost hypersonic missile on its carrier-based fighters, a weapon that could pose a new challenge to the air defences protecting Chinese warships and coastal military installations, experts said.

California-based defence company Castelion’s Blackbeard is designed to fly at more than five times the speed of sound and strike ships and land targets. Unlike more expensive hypersonic weapons, it is being developed with an emphasis on affordability and mass production.

In May, the Pentagon sought congressional authorisation and funding to buy more than 12,000 Blackbeard missiles for deployment across the armed services over five years. US Navy projections put the average gross unit cost at about US$385,000 in the financial years 2028-31.

In contrast, the cost of Lockheed Martin’s larger Long-Range Anti-Ship Missile (LRASM) is estimated in US Air Force budget figures for the 2024 financial year to be about US$3.25 million.