Saronic and Castelion are teaming up to integrate Castelion’s Blackbeard with Saronic’s Medium Unmanned Surface Vessel (MUSV) Marauder. (Saronic)
WASHINGTON — Defense tech firm Saronic will outfit its Marauder medium unmanned surface vessel (MUSV) with defense startup Castelion’s Blackbeard hypersonic vehicle as part of a new partnership, gearing up for a demonstration next year, the firms announced today.
The partnership is a milestone signifying the first integration of hypersonic vehicles on an autonomous surface vessel (ASV), according to the companies. The firms said a maritime launch demonstration is slated for 2027.
“Launching a Castelion hypersonic from a Marauder MUSV significantly changes the approach for any adversary calculating where and how the U.S. can strike,” Dino Mavrookas, co-founder and CEO of Saronic, said in a statement today. “Deterrence is ultimately a function of capability, capacity, and credibility. Saronic and Castelion are working to increase all three by combining autonomous maritime and hypersonic strike capabilities that are more scalable, more affordable, and faster to field.”
Castelion is increasing production of Blackbeard missiles to “several thousand” annually, the company said today. The startup previously announced in October that it had received several awards for the Blackbeard weapon system to be integrated onto Army and Navy platforms.
