HII Wins Navy Contract to Build 10 ROMULUS Unmanned Surface Vessels

30 September 2026
Edited By: Haley McQueen

HII, America's largest military shipbuilder and the global leader in autonomous seapower, was awarded a contract by the US Navy to build 10 ROMULUS unmanned surface vessels (USVs) for the Medium Unmanned Surface Vessel (MUSV) program. The award marks a major advancement in the US Navy's transition from experimentation to fleet-scale deployment of trusted, operational autonomy across the maritime domain.

(Image credit: HII)

“HII has made deliberate, early investments in the development of autonomous systems, advancing capabilities essential to the Navy’s hedge strategy,” said Chris Kastner, HII President and CEO. “We remain firmly committed to supporting the US Navy’s vision and accelerating this critical capability from production to operational deployment.”

The US Navy’s selection underscores HII’s shipbuilding expertise and leadership in proven autonomous unmanned surface and underwater maritime systems to deliver reliable production at the speed and scale required for emerging unmanned fleet production and operations.

At the core of ROMULUS is HII’s Odyssey Autonomous Control Solutions (ACS), a combat-tested autonomy suite that enables trusted, coordinated operations across surface and undersea domains. HII has delivered more than 750 REMUS unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs) to customers in more than 30 countries. Together, ROMULUS, REMUS, and Odyssey ACS provide a scalable foundation for autonomous maritime operations supporting the US Navy and allied fleets.

In 2025, HII committed to securing the partners, production capacity, supplier network, and infrastructure needed to move quickly from design and development to construction of ROMULUS USVs. That investment reflected HII’s continued support of the US Navy’s unmanned maritime priorities and advancing the unmanned surface program with mature technology and a production-ready approach. By beginning work in 2025, HII positioned the ROMULUS program for accelerated delivery, reduced production risk, and to provide the US Navy with a scalable path to fielding autonomous unmanned surface capabilities at the pace the nation demands.

“Unmanned vessels ultimately must be built, integrated, tested, and sustained as part of a fleet,” said Andy Green, president of HII’s Mission Technologies division. “As the nation’s largest shipbuilder, HII understands that challenge from both sides. By pairing our advanced cutting-edge technologies with our shipbuilding expertise, and leveraging experienced regional partners and suppliers, we are creating a production ecosystem capable of delivering reliable autonomous platforms at the pace and scale the US Navy requires.”

Odyssey ACS: The Autonomy Behind ROMULUS

A key differentiator of ROMULUS is HII’s Odyssey ACS, a modular, open-architecture autonomy suite developed from decades of experience designing, building, operating, and sustaining unmanned maritime systems.

Odyssey is designed to deliver consistent, predictable autonomous behavior, a requirement for the US Navy’s transition from experimentation to operational deployment. It provides decision-making architecture that enables unmanned systems to perceive their surroundings, navigate, manage onboard systems and payloads, coordinate with other manned and unmanned platforms, and execute complex missions with limited human intervention.

Odyssey’s modular, open architecture lets the US Navy and allied partners rapidly integrate emerging sensors, command-and-control (C2) technologies, and AI algorithms, ensuring ROMULUS remains upgrade-ready for evolving threat environments.

HII, with its partners Applied Intuition, Greenroom Robotics, and Rodi Marine, successfully completed the evaluation phase of the MUSV program. HII’s Odyssey ACS vessel capabilities were validated through a series of operationally representative test events, demonstrating performance, reliability, and mission readiness. The US Navy-monitored testing took place in the Gulf of America over a 13-day period and evaluated the system under demanding, real-world operating conditions.

The most rigorous event was a long-endurance mission simulation. HII’s autonomy system successfully completed the full 420-nautical-mile mission over 28 hours, meeting all established success criteria and demonstrating the endurance and autonomous performance required for sustained maritime operations.

Designed and Built by Shipbuilders for Scale

For ROMULUS, HII is combining that expertise with a distributed production model that leverages regional shipbuilders and manufacturing partners. This approach expands available production capacity, strengthens the US maritime industrial base, and enables vessels to be produced efficiently and repeatedly as US Navy demand grows.

HII is working with Gulf Coast build partners including Breaux Brothers Enterprises, Halimar Shipyard, and Bayou Metal Supply & Manufacturing in Louisiana to support ROMULUS production, which was developed in partnership with Beier Integrated Systems and Incat Crowther.

HII also recently announced a new 10,000-square-foot expansion to increase the capacity of HII’s existing 40,000-square-foot unmanned manufacturing production campus to build, develop, and integrate advanced unmanned and autonomous maritime systems for both the REMUS family of UUVs and ROMULUS USVs.

The model allows major components and assemblies to be produced efficiently before final vessel integration, increasing throughput and creating a repeatable production architecture that can scale across the ROMULUS USV family.