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🪽 More than two dozen countries operate the F-16, making this market potentially huge.

And Castelion previously secured money for defense exportability design modifications ...

@axios axios.com/2026/11/03/f16…

F-16s could soon be armed with Castelion's hypersonic missile axios.com/2026/11/03/f16…

Torrance, Calif.-based startup Castelion has become a darling of the defense tech boom, in part because it encapsulates the movement’s raison d’être: The U.S. must rebuild its industrial base faster, cheaper, and with an eye to scale. bit.ly/4BJexX5

Castelion founders spoke with @FortuneMagazine about building affordable hypersonics at scale.

Thank you, Fortune, for the feature.
fortune.com/2026/10/31/hyp…

The 2026 American Dynamism 50 is here: our annual list of 50 companies, from within the a16z portfolio and beyond, building for America's future.

This year's theme is Production is Deterrence. "America's ability to prevent conflict depends on what it can build, how fast it can t can keep going."

A new generation of defense companies is moving from prototypes to full-scale production, and the industrial base has to keep pace. This year's list is organized around three pillars:

1. Systems: the drones, ships, missiles, aircraft, and spacecraft that deter conflict.

2. Factories: the plants, tools, and software that build them.

3. Inputs: the materials and power they're made of and run on.

Get all three right, and the impact reaches well beyond defense, to skilled jobs, revitalized communities, and the supply chains behind energy, housing, and everyday goods.

Meet all 50: a16z.news/p/ad-50-2026-p…

Castelion has been awarded a contract modification to its existing work with the Air Force Research Laboratory to begin Blackbeard integration activities with the F-16. We are grateful to the Air Force for their trust.

Aim High.

Thank you, Rep. Mike Levin, for visiting Castelion HQ to see how we design, test, and build hardware in support of the nation's conventional deterrent.

Not a bad summer.

Deterrence depends on systems that can be produced in sufficient numbers, quickly, and affordably. We've designed Blackbeard with production in mind from the start.

Thanks to @SpecialReport for the coverage.

MULTIMILLION-DOLLAR PRICE TAGS: As the U.S. looks to refill its missile stockpiles and counter sophisticated adversaries, the military is investing heavily in maneuverable hypersonic weapons. From multi-million dollar legacy projects like the Army's Dark Eagle to innovative 500,000 systems and expanding testing capabilities, we break down what it takes to secure America's technological edge.

Our co-founder and CEO @hargsb is speaking on the Future of Fires Panel at AUSA 2026. Hope to see you there.

Blackbeard for HIMARS. See you at AUSA 2026.

America has spent decades developing hypersonic technology. The challenge now is manufacturing it at scale.

Our CEO @hargsb joined @jimsciutto on @cnni to discuss rebuilding domestic supply chains and delivering affordable hypersonic weapons at the scale our military needs.

Container-compatible Blackbeard. Built to move with the fight.

My first conversation with Bryon Hargis (@hargsb), Cofounder and CEO of @Castelion. This is a special edition of our show recorded at @reindsummit. Since then, Castelion has announced a $1 billion Series C funding valuing the company at $13 billion making it one of the most logy companies in the ecosystem.

What we cover:

- Why Bryon sold his SpaceX stock to bootstrap Castelion and bet two-thirds of his savings on the mission.
- Why affordable, mass-produced hypersonic missiles are central to his vision of American deterrence.
- Building Blackbeard, winning the first Navy order, and scaling production to thousands of missiles a year.
- The SpaceX lessons behind faster hardware development: rapid testing, questioning convention, and knowing when to change course.
- Hiring for mission over money and why company culture is built one person at a time.

TIMESTAMPS

00:00 Intro
01:00 Bootstrapping with SpaceX stock and crypto mining
07:00 Why Bryon started a defense company
11:00 Building deterrence and landing the first Navy order
14:00 Scaling missile manufacturing in New Mexico
18:00 Meet Blackbeard: Castelion’s hypersonic missile
20:00 Hypersonic vs. ballistic vs. cruise missiles
23:00 Golden Dome and the future of missile defense
25:00 How SpaceX enables America’s national security
27:00 Elon Musk, ambitious deadlines, and moving faster
30:00 Why rapid testing beats over-engineering
33:00 Lessons from SpaceX: Question convention, follow the data
38:00 Hiring for the mission and building company culture
45:00 Growing as a founder and being willing to be wrong

Congrats to friends of the show @a16z @davidu @TheAmbitionCap @lacostejonathan and others including @lightspeedvp @AltimeterCap @generalcatalyst

Special thanks to @falondonohue @austinbishop @aphysicist for hosting @WeThe_Builders in Detroit

We're building something big in New Mexico, with the people who call it home. Join us! castelion.com/project-ranger/

Our CEO @hargsb joined @SpecialReport to discuss how Castelion is manufacturing munitions differently. Thank you, @BretBaier, for the focus on rebuilding America’s arsenal.

BOLSTERING THE DEFENSE INDUSTRIAL BASE: @BretBaier examines efforts to overhaul the defense industrial base through stable, multi-year funding frameworks and a growing reliance on agile commercial startups. As Under Secretary of War for Acquisition and Sustainment Michael Duffey llar deals with prime contractors like Raytheon, Lockheed Martin, and Northrop Grumman are locking in production for critical systems like Tomahawk, THAAD, and Patriot interceptors. Meanwhile, the Defense Innovation Unit and next-gen tech firms like Castelion and Rocket Lab are utilizing rapid commercial manufacturing practices to scale up hypersonic capabilities and outpace modern threats.