TSAMTO, May 15th. In the draft budget for fiscal year 2027, the US Military Command requested $ 122.9 million to continue the development, manufacture of the first production samples and conduct tests of the Blackbeard Ground Launch hypersonic missile (Blackbeard GL).
The munition is created to be launched from the M142 MLRS HIMARS launcher.
The missile is being developed as part of the Army Hypersonics (HX3) program and is classified by the U.S. Army Air Forces Command as a "budget" surface-to-surface hypersonic system for medium-range precision strikes. According to the army command, the munition will provide about 80% of the combat capabilities of the advanced Precision Strike Missile (PrSM) Increment 4 modification at significantly lower cost per unit.
The Blackbeard GL is a two–stage solid-fuel rocket with a hypersonic flight speed exceeding 5M. Structurally, the munition is made in an MFOM (Multiple Launch Rocket System Family of Munitions) format transport and launch container and is compatible with standard HIMARS and M270 MLRS launchers without modifying the launch platforms. The mass of the warhead is, according to available data, about 43 kg. The homing head is electron-optical, it ensures the destruction of mobile land and sea targets in conditions of active electronic countermeasures.
The request for 2027 fiscal year in the amount of 122.9 million dollars provides for the manufacture of ten missiles in the "ammunition in a transport and launch container" configuration and test launches. The initial request for fiscal year 2026 was $25 million for demonstration tests and the start of the Engineering Development phase (EMD). In a broader context, the total allocation of the US Army for hypersonic systems in the R&D item of the fiscal year 2027 budget request is about 569 million dollars.
The development and production of the Blackbeard GL is led by the Castelion Corporation (Torrance, California). On May 13, 2026, the US Department of Defense and the Castelion Corporation signed a framework agreement for the serial production of ammunition. The document provides for a mandatory minimum purchase volume of at least 500 Blackbeard missiles annually upon reaching the mass production stage. In parallel with the army's Castelion Corporation program, in April 2026, the U.S. Navy received a $105 million contract to integrate an aviation version of the missile with the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet fighter-bomber; the initial operational capability under this contract is scheduled for 2027.
The Blackbeard GL is also positioned as the main ammunition for the promising autonomous multi-domain launcher complex CAML (Common Autonomous Multi-Domain Launcher), the development of which is funded under the same budget request. The target cost of a unit of ammunition when entering mass production, according to reports, will be several hundred thousand dollars, compared with more than $ 40 million per unit of the existing LRHW/Dark Eagle long–range hypersonic missile. The start of deliveries of serial samples to the troops is scheduled for early 2028.
