USA prepares a new combination of weapons that until now had not been tested. The company Saronic wants to launch a hypersonic missile in 2027 blackbeard of Castellion from the Marauderan unmanned vessel 55 meters long.
The two companies maintain that it will be the first attempt to integrate a hypersonic weapon into an autonomous surface vessel. The idea is not only to add more technology to a drone ship, but to create a platform capable of bringing this type of missile closer to more areas of the ocean without exposing a crew.
The Marauder belongs to the category of medium-sized unmanned vessels that is evaluating the US Navy. It can carry up to 150 tons charging and supports the installation of different systems depending on the mission. In this case, the load would be Blackbeard, a hypersonic system with which Castelion wants to increase the precision attack capacity of the Armed Forces.
Saronic and Castelion argue that this combination would change the way an adversary calculates America’s true reach. A hypersonic missile launched from land or a conventional ship already poses a significant threat, but launching it from an autonomous platform poses unprecedented additional capacity.
‘Launching a Castelion hypersonic from a Marauder MUSV significantly changes the approach of any adversary when calculating where and how it can attack the United States. Deterrence is ultimately a function of capability, volume, and credibility. Saronic and Castelion are working to increase all three by combining autonomous maritime and hypersonic strike capabilities that are more scalable, more affordable and faster to deploy‘, he points out Dino Mavrookasco-founder and CEO of Saronic, in a statement.
The objective is to give military commanders more points from which to launch long-range weapons. It would also reduce the risk to crews, as these ships could operate in areas where sending a conventional ship would be more dangerous or politically sensitive.
Castelion, for its part, is increasing Blackbeard production. The company says it wants to manufacture several thousand missiles a year and deploy them in different branches of the Armed forces. The system has already received contracts to advance its integration in both platforms of the Army as of the Marine.
‘Blackbeard and Marauder will give our military more shots, from more places and with fewer restrictions‘, he stated Bryon Hargisco-founder and CEO of Castelion.
The announcement comes at a time of strong activity for Saronic. The company is expanding a shipyard in Louisiana that should be completed by the end of this year. When it comes into operation, it will have the capacity to manufacture up to 20 units of the Marauder per year.
The ship It began its afloat tests at the end of May and is now part of a US Navy initiative to evaluate medium-sized autonomous vessels. Saronic is one of the seven companies selected. Sea trials will be carried out this summer and companies that pass the evaluation phase before October They will receive 15 million dollars and will be able to compete for future production contracts.
The Navy is already working on other Saronic unmanned vessels. One of them is the corsaircapable of transporting up to 454 kilos of cargo more than 1,852 kilometers away. Task Force 59, a unit focused on unmanned maritime operations, began using it in March. This Monday, a Corsair successfully rescued the two pilots of the Apache American who fell into the sea near Omanin the context of the iran war. It was the first rescue carried out by an unmanned vessel.