Confirmed by Fiscal Year 2027 U.S. Navy budget documentation, the Multi-mission Affordable Capacity Effector (MACE) is to serve as the most numerous Hypersonic strike option available to U.S. Naval Aviation, with a limited service entry date sometime in 2027.
Budgetary details followed shortly after Castelion’s Blackbeard came out on top as the MACE program’s winner. Blackbeard’s selection and procurement comes at a breakneck pace, as the Request for Information was first published by NAVAIR just over two years ago, with the first budgetary mention last year.
FY 2027 will serve as the first year the U.S. Navy will buy MACE rounds in bulk, totaling out to 353 all-up-rounds (AURs) for lot 1, resulting from $156,000,000 in reconciliation funding. However, at least some of the $156 million will likely go towards preparing the industrial base to enable the Navy’s desired production levels, with at least 500 Blackbeard AURs rolling off the production line every year once production is fully established.
Despite a rapid procurement of a quite sizable amount of 353 rounds, FY 2028-2031 procurement levels are set to dwarf this, with the Navy potentially purchasing 691 AURs in FY 2028, 976 AURs in FY 2029, 1,115 AURs in FY 2030, and 1,375 AURs in FY 2031 (although these amounts remain unconfirmed for the time being).
The 353 rounds procured will likely experience an entry into service at a similarly rapid pace, as the program is set to obtain an Early Operational Capability in 2027, setting the stage for near future deliveries of rounds en mass. Even if only the first 353 rounds are considered, Blackbeard will represent the most abundant hypersonic strike option in U.S. Navy inventory.
Previous Hypersonic strike programs for the Navy have been fraught with issues over their development cycle, especially the OASuW increment 2 program, otherwise known as theHypersonic Air Launched Offensive Anti-Surface anti ship missile (HALO). Whilst there were previously talks earlier this year of resurrecting HALO, nothing fruitful was produced, leaving the now dead program unfunded.
About Blackbeard
As mentioned above, Blackbeard was developed by Castellion, who will also be the prime contractor responsible for production begins. In addition to U.S. Navy usage aboard aircraft, Blackbeard is also earmarked for integration onto U.S. Army platforms, with the M-142 HIMARS as a likely candidate.
Blackbeard is stated to fall within current range category currently occupied by the AGM-158C Long Range Anti-Ship Missile (LRASM), with the stealthy air launched anti-ship having a stated range of greater than 200 nautical miles, (with a potential range of up to 500 nautical miles). Despite falling within the same range bracket, Blackbeard offers a fundamentally different capability at a much greater scale, with smaller warhead of 95lbs and a greater emphasis on striking time-sensitive targets.
U.S. Navy fixed winged fighters in the shape of the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet and F-35C Lightnings will be the primary launch platforms. In regards to the F-35C Lightnings, Blackbeard is small enough to enable carriage of 4 rounds the internal weapons bays, providing the stealth-fighter’s first hypersonic strike capability whilst keeping a reduced radar cross section. As such, Blackbeard will also likely represent the hypersonic munition with the most single flight magazine depth on a Navy aircraft.