The collaboration between Castelion and Saronic marks the first integration of autonomous surface vessels with hypersonics, and stands to accelerate distributed hypersonic capabilities by pairing Saronic’s autonomous surface vessels (ASVs) with Castelion’s low-cost hypersonics. The companies, both founded in late-2022, are targeting a demonstration in 2027. 

Multi-year procurement of 500 weapons annually in shift from development to production, targeting operational fielding at scale. The framework represents the first production agreement of its kind for a low-cost hypersonic weapon and directly advances the Department’s mandate to build credible deterrence at scale through the Arsenal of Freedom.

Today, Castelion announced that it was awarded a $105M contract by the U.S. Navy to continue efforts to integrate its Blackbeard hypersonic strike weapon onto the F/A-18 and transition the system to an Early Operational Capability in 2027.  Under this award, Castelion will conduct extensive system safety and certification testing, flight testing, and other integration activities related to carrier-based operations.