What Is the Blackbeard Missile Coming to the F-16?

The U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory has awarded the defence startup Castelion a contract modification to begin integrating its Blackbeard hypersonic strike missile onto the F-16 Fighting Falcon, extending to the Air Force’s most numerous fighter a weapon developed so far mainly for the U.S. Navy’s F/A-18E/F Super Hornet. The California-based company announced the award on October 26, stating that it was “grateful to the Air Force for their trust.” Neither the value of the modification nor a date for a first launch from an F-16 has been disclosed, and the Air Force has not commented publicly. The move highlights how quickly a missile designed around affordable mass rather than exquisite performance has gained support across the services.

The F-16 award follows a rapid series of contract actions that have taken Blackbeard from a research effort to production in roughly a year. The laboratory added $16.4 million to Castelion’s contract in September, raising its value to $37.2 million with work funded through June 2028, while Air & Space Forces Magazine reported that the latest modification also pursues compatibility with the F-35A. The Navy, which selected Blackbeard for its Multi-mission Affordable Capacity Effector program, awarded $105 million in April to integrate the weapon on the Super Hornet, ordered 50 early operational capability rounds for $23.4 million in June, and on September 14 placed a production order valued at up to $200 million. Air Test and Evaluation Squadron 23 flew carriage and separation tests at Naval Air Station Patuxent River on September 18, while the U.S. Army is pursuing a ground-launched version compatible with the M142 HIMARS under contracts announced in October 2025.

The program’s appeal lies in its price, which sets it apart from the Air Force’s other hypersonic efforts. The Navy’s fiscal 2027 budget request sought $156 million for 353 MACE missiles, which works out to roughly $440,000 per round and places the weapon closer in cost to an air-to-air missile than to a strategic strike asset. The Air Force moved the AGM-183 ARRW into production with a $694 million Lockheed Martin contract on October 26, but that weapon is far heavier and carried by few platforms. Blackbeard instead reflects a wider Pentagon push for cheaper munitions built in volume, and an F-16 fleet of more than 600 aircraft would considerably expand the number of fighters able to deliver hypersonic weapons as the service reshapes its fighter fleet around the F-35A.

Blackbeard is a rocket-powered boost-glide weapon built to the MACE requirement for a hypersonic missile roughly the size of the AIM-120 AMRAAM, allowing it to be carried on stations designed for existing air-launched munitions. Its range has been reported inconsistently, with Navy Times citing a 200 nautical mile standoff range when the production order was announced and Air & Space Forces Magazine describing a strike range of nearly 500 miles. Castelion, founded in 2022 by former SpaceX engineers, has yet to publish full specifications for the missile and has not said whether the F-16 work will include live launches.