Pentagon Pushes Hypersonic Weapons Production as Startups Cut Costs

Dark Eagle missiles may cost more than $40 million, but startups such as Castelion aim to produce hypersonic weapons for less than $500,000 each.

The Pentagon is pursuing the development of hypersonic missiles

As the United States struggles to replenish its missile stockpile, it is also looking to develop new weapons for its arsenal.

"We're going to need all three classes of missiles. Cheap missiles, advanced ones like the Patriot now, and then maybe some hypersonics," said Mark Kancian, a retired US Marine Corps colonel and senior adviser to the Department of Defense and Security for CSIS.

The US military is increasingly interested in hypersonic weapons, which can be maneuvered and travel five times the speed of sound.

"These hypersonic systems are now seen as a revolutionary new system, and ballistic missiles as antiquated," said Cameron Tracy, a senior researcher at the University of Berkeley.

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But the weapons that the military has traditionally invested in can come at a cost. Government Accountability Office estimates show that the Army's long-range hypersonic weapons, Dark Eagle missiles, cost more than $40 million each. As the Navy works to equip its Zumwalt destroyers with hypersonics, the GAO estimates that each missile will cost $70 million — which includes the costs of developing and incorporating the necessary technologies. The GAO also notes that the renovation project is two years behind schedule.

"For example, the military thinks that long-range hypersonic weapons will become cheaper in the long run as production increases," said Xiaodon, Liang, the Arms Control Association's senior policy analyst for nuclear weapons and disarmament policy.

According to the US Navy, the Tomahawk missiles cost about $2.6 million. Army budget documents show the Patriot missiles cost nearly $4 million. Precision strike missiles, or PrSMs, cost $1.6 million per unit. The US Navy can buy approximately 27 Tomahawks for the price of one hypersonic missile on a Zumwalt destroyer. The military can buy about 25 PrSMs for the price of one Dark Eagle hypersonic weapon.

"The United States has invested in several programs in recent years that are underway," Liang said. "These are exquisite weapons. And I think the military acquires them for exquisite purposes."

Hypersonic weapons move up to 20 times faster than conventional missiles, and the enemy's reaction time is six times shorter. Supersonic speeds are critical both for evading enemy defense systems and for launching attacks. The Atlantic Council estimates that 75 percent less hypersonic weapons are needed for a mission.

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Startups hope to reduce some of the costs of producing hypersonic weapons with more affordable missiles and increased testing capabilities.

"This weapon is less than $500,000, which is pretty cheap if you know about ammunition," said Bryon Hargis, Castelion co-founder and CEO.

The Army and Navy are investing in the Castelion, Blackbeard's hypersonic weapon, which the company says is designed for mass production.

"It's a story about hypersonics and what they can offer in terms of a weapon, but it's really an American-made story," Hargis said. "The company is focused on providing America with options to have a medium deterrent layer, and we're doing that through manufacturing."

This year, Castelion began construction on the largest dedicated supersonic weapons production facility in the United States, Project Ranger, which is slated to produce thousands of Blackbeard weapons annually. They will eventually be used to complete various Castelion contracts, such as integrating weapons into the US Navy's F/A-18 Super Hornet jets, integrating the system into the US Army's HIMARS, and deploying Blackbeard on unmanned surface vehicles.

Hargis said: "The advantage of the hypersonic system is that it goes very far, gets there quickly and is very durable because of its maneuverability. And that's important to achieve deterrence because it's hard to knock down."

Most hypersonic weapons remain in the Earth's atmosphere. These missiles are maneuverable in flight and can attack a target quickly, in 15 to 30 minutes, from a distance of 1,725 miles.

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"If you don't know what the target is going to be initially, unlike ballistic missiles where you can calculate where it will land, you might misinterpret, say, an incoming missile. A strike as an attempt to decapitate," Liang said, "and that would be very worrying."

Developers say the United States is talking with other countries about launching missiles and their intended targets. But there are other concerns that ultrasonic maneuvers can lead to inaccuracies.

"Technologies improve over time with experimentation and especially with increased user experience, but there are very important physical limits to the performance of these systems," Tracy says.

Defense contractor Rocket Lab is working with the War Department to improve the capabilities of hypersonic missiles through an increasing number of test launches.

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"With the HASTE program, what we've enabled is low-cost, high-frequency hypersonic and missile defense testing. And when you can say you can get it cheaper and faster, now you're looking at a more over-the-target approach to demonstrate the capability of the technology's insertion cycle,” said Brian Rogers, vice president of global launch services at Rocket Lab.

The HASTE rocket is a suborbital launch vehicle that provides flight test opportunities for the government to advance the development of hypersonic and suborbital systems technology. The vehicle is derived from Rocket Lab's Electron rocket, which has completed nearly 100 missions.

"Instead of saying we've got to be stuck in an analytical environment and then this is a very difficult, campaign test that costs a lot of money and involves a lot of people, now you can say we're planning 12 tests this year. We don't have to bet the farm on any one of them. That allows us to take more risk and really move the needle in terms of developing the syringe technology," Rogers said.

The US military has never used hypersonic weapons, but has sought to deploy its Dark Eagle in the Middle East.

"I would be very surprised if we use them, and even if we do use them extensively, because of the small number of missiles available and the concerns about ammunition stockpiles," Liang said.

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