US turns to low-cost Blackbeard hypersonic missiles to overwhelm Chinese defences

The US Navy aims to field a relatively low-cost hypersonic missile on its carrier-based fighters, a weapon that could pose a new challenge to the air defences protecting Chinese warships and coastal military installations, experts said.

California-based defence company Castelion’s Blackbeard is designed to fly at more than five times the speed of sound and strike ships and land targets.

Unlike more expensive hypersonic weapons, it is being developed with an emphasis on affordability and mass...