Key Points and Summary on HIMARS – The U.S. Army is upgrading its combat-proven M142 HIMARS rocket launcher to fire hypersonic missiles, a significant leap in tactical firepower.
-The new “Blackbeard” Ground Launch (GL) missile, developed by the startup Castelion, will give the HIMARS a Mach 5+ strike capability.
Meet ‘Blackbeard’: The New Hypersonic ‘Super Missile’ for the HIMARS
Hypersonic missiles are those that (1) generate a speed of greater than Mach 5 (3,836 mph, 6,174 km/h, 3,333 knots) and (2) are capable of maneuvering during atmospheric flight, which is a scary prospect for those on the receiving end of such weapons, as the combination of speed and agility makes them much more difficult to shoot down.
Chances are, one primarily associates hypersonic missiles with Russia and China. This association is certainly understandable as these two nations are grabbing most of the headlines in hypersonic missile technological advancements, such as the Oreshnik (“Hazel Tree”) intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM), Kh-47M2 Kinzhal (“Dagger;” NATO reporting name AS-24 “Killjoy”) air-launched ballistic missile (ALBM), 3M22 Zircon (also transliterated as “Tsirkon;” NATO reporting name SS-N-33) nuclear-capable anti-ship cruise missile, and the DF-ZF hypersonic glide vehicle (HGV).
Fortunately, the United States is also developing hypersonic missile technologies. For starters, there is the AGM-183 Air-Launched Rapid Response Weapon (ARRW).
And now the US Army’s M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) light multiple rocket launcher is getting a hypersonic boost.
The Basics
This latest development comes to us courtesy of reporter Ethan M. Encarnacion, in a July 7, 2025, article for NextGenDefense titled “US Army’s HIMARS to Go Hypersonic.” To wit: “The US Army is gearing up to give its High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) a hypersonic boost with the development of the Blackbeard Ground Launch (GL) weapon system … The plan is to integrate the Blackbeard missile into existing HIMARS platforms, combining high-speed precision with the system’s mobility and established infrastructure.”
The Blackbeard
The Blackbeard missile is the brainchild of the Castelion Corporation, which is headquartered in El Segundo, California, and was co-founded in 2023 by Bryon Hargis (current CEO), Sean Pitt (current COO), and Andrew Kreitz (current CFO). The famous 18th-century English pirate’s 21st-century American ballistic namesake is being designed for precision engagement against reinforced and mobile enemy assets, even in heavily contested environments; it uses self-guiding tech to attain those oh-so-important Mach 5+ speeds en route to the targets.
Castelion’s gameplan is to integrate the Blackbeard missile into existing HIMARS platforms by adapting existing pods from the Multiple Launch Rocket System (MLRS) family of munitions, allowing it to be fired from the HIMARS and tracked M270 launchers with minimal modification, thus making good use of the HIMARS system’s mobility and established infrastructure (as opposed to having to completely reinvent the proverbial wheel).
The exact cost is not yet known, but we do know that the US Army has allocated $25 million to advance Blackbeard into full development.
The projected timeline is to roll out Blackbeard with a flight test of an air-launched variant in 2026, followed by a live-fire demo in 2027, and potential battlefield deployment as soon as 2028.
Army spokespersons sound quite hopeful about the project, stating that the hypersonic missile is “an affordable, mass-produced weapon designed for mid-range precision,” offering around 80 percent of the capability of more advanced weapon systems but at a lower cost.
If this cost-effectiveness and optimistic timeframe for deployment do end up holding true, it would be compliant with the spirit of President Donald J. Trump’s April 9, 2025, executive order that aims to modernize defense acquisitions and spur innovations in the defense industrial base.
Pre-Hypersonic HIMARS History
Needless to say, the standard HIMARS system has already made quite a name for itself. It traces its origins back to 1982, when the Army’s 9th Infantry Division (Motorized) identified the need for a lighter-weight alternative to the M270 Multiple Launch Rocket System (MLRS). Although the MLRS would end up proving itself deadly effective during the 1991 Persian Gulf War, AKA Operation Desert Storm, the deficiencies of the system were also made glaringly apparent: it was too heavy for rapid deployment, and it was too costly in airlift assets to deploy in theater. (The launchers did not arrive in-theatre with the initial wave of US troops; luckily, the 5-month buildup lag time between that initial wave and the actual start of combat operations enabled the MLRS to catch up in time for the war.)
Thus, it came to pass that the Loral Corporation (which later became part of Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control) began developing the HIMARS as a private venture. The system was first publicly unveiled in 1993, followed by the US Army Missile Command’s awarding of a $23.2 million contract to Lockheed Martin to build four prototypes.
Long story short, the system finally became officially operational in 2005. The end result was a truck-mounted system that could fire six guided rockets in rapid succession and relocate quickly to avoid detection or counter-fire.
Even in non-hypersonic form, the system has some impressive capabilities: its standard munitions reach up to 50 miles (80 kilometers), while its Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) can hit targets as far away as 186 miles (300 kilometers). Presumably, the Blackbeard partnership will extend that range even further.
HIMARS has been made famous via the Russia-Ukraine War. First received by Ukraine in June 2022, it proved quite effective in the first few months after its arrival on-scene, destroying Russian headquarters and ammunition dumps, which helped curtail Russian artillery fire, and also adversely impacting Russian troop morale.
However, the Russians eventually learned to adjust to the HIMARS’ capabilities, via displacement of logistics hubs out of range, hardening of command posts, employment of decoys, and persistent jamming efforts.
About the Author: Christian D. Orr, Defense Expert
Christian D. Orr is a Senior Defense Editor. He is a former Air Force Security Forces officer, Federal law enforcement officer, and private military contractor (with assignments worked in Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, Kosovo, Japan, Germany, and the Pentagon). Chris holds a B.A. in International Relations from the University of Southern California (USC) and an M.A. in Intelligence Studies (concentration in Terrorism Studies) from American Military University (AMU).
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