US Navy tests Blackbeard hypersonic missile

The US Navy has begun testing the prospective Blackbeard hypersonic missile on an F/A-18 Super Hornet fighter jet, TWZ reports.

The publication said attendees at the annual Tailhook Association conference held last weekend were shown a photograph of two missile prototypes mounted under the fighter’s right wing, Caliber.Az reports.

The tests are intended to assess the integration of the new weapon with US Navy carrier-based fighter jets.

US aerospace and defence company Castelion and the Navy are pushing to have the lower-cost Blackbeard ready for a limited early entry into operational service no later than August 2028.

How exactly Blackbeard is guided remains unknown, but a downward-angled aperture at the nose end for a seeker system would make sense for this weapon, which the Navy is pursuing primarily as a new way to target enemy ships. In particular, a wide array of existing anti-ship and land attack missiles, as well as certain anti-air types, have variously shaped apertures in their noses for imaging infrared seekers.

The US Army is also separately funding development of a surface-launched version of Blackbeard. In May, the Pentagon outlined plans for the acquisition of 12,000 Blackbeard missiles over the next three years, but it is unclear whether this covers surface- or air-launched versions, or a mix of both. At that time, the Pentagon also announced a framework for purchases of 10,000 lower-cost surface-launched cruise missiles in that same timeframe.

By Bakhtiyar Abbasov