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 mor