TORRANCE, Calif. — U.S. defense technology company Castelion has raised $1 billion in Series C financing, valuing the company at $13 billion. The funding will expand production of its Blackbeard hypersonic strike missile and accelerate development of longer-range precision-strike and defensive systems.
The financing includes $800 million in equity and $250 million in committed financing for a revolving credit facility. JPMorganChase’s Strategic Investment Group, Andreessen Horowitz and funds managed by Carlyle co-led the equity round. New investor T. Rowe Price Associates joined existing investors Lightspeed Venture Partners, Lavrock Ventures, Altimeter, General Catalyst and Interlagos.
Castelion has secured more than $500 million in U.S. military contracts over the past 18 months. Founded in 2022 by former SpaceX executives including Co-Founder and CEO Bryon Hargis, the company moved Blackbeard from a clean-sheet design to a formal program of record in less than four years, with military fielding targeted for 2027.
The U.S. Navy is currently the primary customer. It awarded Castelion about $50 million in February 2026 for Blackbeard's early operational capability, approximately $105 million in April for integration, testing and certification on the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, and a $23.4 million June order for 50 pre-production prototypes and associated shipping and storage containers.
In May 2026, the U.S. Department of War signed a production framework agreement with Castelion. It covers a planned two-year procurement contract for a minimum of 500 Blackbeard missiles annually after testing and validation, with options to extend up to five years. The department has also indicated interest in seeking authorization and funding for more than 12,000 missiles over five years.
Blackbeard is designed as a lower-cost hypersonic strike missile capable of speeds exceeding Mach 5. Reports have put its expected unit cost at around $384,000, with Castelion targeting production rates higher than traditional hypersonic missile programs.
Project Ranger Expansion
Much of the new funding will support Project Ranger, Castelion's 1,000-acre manufacturing campus in Sandoval County, New Mexico, near Rio Rancho. The company is investing $220 million in the physical site.
The project includes 21 buildings for activities including solid rocket motor production, testing and final assembly. The facilities are scheduled to reach full production readiness by the end of 2026. The campus is expected to create approximately 300 high-wage manufacturing jobs and generate an estimated $650 million in local economic impact over the next decade.
Castelion said the funding will also accelerate testing of a longer-range precision-strike weapon that has been under development for several years. It uses core technologies, components and manufacturing methods from Blackbeard and is intended to provide a lower-cost weapon that can be produced at higher rates.
The company is also developing defensive systems using the same technologies and manufacturing methods, with the goal of reducing costs, increasing production rates and providing greater magazine depth for air and missile defense missions.
“There’s a manufacturing renaissance underway and this round turbocharges American production of Blackbeard,” Hargis said, describing the missile as designed in California, built in New Mexico and supplied by businesses across the United States.
Todd Combs, Head of JPMorganChase's Strategic Investment Group, said the firm is supporting companies working to strengthen the defense industrial base through more affordable and scalable defense technologies.
Castelion said the Series C financing will be used to scale Blackbeard production, expand its precision-strike portfolio and advance its defensive systems.
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