US defence technology company Castelion has announced a $1 billion Series C financing round intended to expand production of its Blackbeard hypersonic strike missile and fund work on longer-range strike and defensive systems, according to the company.
Castelion announced the financing on 19 August, saying the round values the California-headquartered company at $13 billion. The company describes the financing as a $1 billion Series C, comprising $800 million in equity investment and $250 million committed to a revolving credit facility.
The equity portion was co-led by JPMorganChase’s Strategic Investment Group, Andreessen Horowitz and funds managed by Carlyle. Lightspeed Venture Partners, Lavrock Ventures, Altimeter, General Catalyst and Interlagos also participated alongside new investor T. Rowe Price Associates.
Castelion said the capital will be directed primarily towards increasing production capacity for Blackbeard, its first hypersonic strike weapon, while accelerating development of another longer-range precision strike system and expanding work on air and missile defence technologies. The company says it has secured more than $500 million in US military contracts during the past 18 months and moved Blackbeard from an initial design to a programme of record in less than four years. Fielding of the weapon is targeted for 2027, according to Castelion.
Bryon Hargis, co-founder and chief executive of Castelion, said in the company’s announcement: “Deterrence depends on unapologetic American strength; highly capable weapon systems that adversaries fear produced in quantities they can’t imagine at a price taxpayers can afford.”
He added: “There’s a manufacturing renaissance underway and this round turbocharges American production of Blackbeard. Designed in California, built in New Mexico, supplied from small and large businesses across the United States; Blackbeard is an example of what America can do when private capital and Government work together.”
A substantial part of the new investment is expected to go into manufacturing infrastructure in New Mexico. Castelion is developing Project Ranger, a 1,000-acre manufacturing campus in Sandoval County dedicated to hypersonic missile production. The company had already committed more than $250 million in private infrastructure investment at the site and said it will now commit hundreds of millions of dollars more to expand Blackbeard production capacity.
Castelion is also using technology developed for Blackbeard as the basis for a separate longer-range precision strike weapon. According to the company, the system has been under development for several years and will reuse core technologies, components and manufacturing methods developed for Blackbeard. The stated objective is to produce a longer-range hypersonic weapon at substantially greater volumes and lower cost than existing high-end systems. Castelion has not identified the new weapon by name in the announcement.
A third portion of the investment will support defensive systems. Castelion said these programmes will draw on technologies and manufacturing processes developed through Blackbeard, with an emphasis on air and missile defence and increasing available interceptor magazine depth.
Todd Combs, head of JPMorganChase’s Strategic Investment Group, said in the release: “Castelion is helping to address a critical national security challenge by bringing greater speed, agility and manufacturing capacity to the development of next-generation defense technologies.”
Katherine Boyle, general partner at Andreessen Horowitz, said: “We backed Castelion when it was a small team that wanted to build what the department of War most needed faster and cheaper than the experts thought possible.” She added: “Four years later there is a factory in New Mexico and a production agreement with the Department of War.”
Castelion has moved through successive private funding rounds as it expands from development and flight testing into production. The company raised $350 million in a Series B financing round announced in December 2025, with that investment similarly directed towards manufacturing hypersonic weapons at scale.
Alongside its land-based production plans, Castelion is also working with autonomous vessel manufacturer Saronic on a proposed maritime launch demonstration. The companies announced in June that they intend to integrate Castelion hypersonic wepons with Saronic autonomous surface vessels, with a demonstration targeted for 2027. The latest financing will now support expansion at Project Ranger alongside continued Blackbeard production, development of the unnamed longer-range strike system and work on lower-cost defensive weapons.
