HII (NYSE: HII) announced that Halimar Shipyard of Morgan City, Louisiana, has joined its network of industrial partners supporting serial production of the ROMULUS unmanned surface vessel (USV) family, according to a company press release.

Under the partnership, Halimar will construct complete ROMULUS 151 vessels and collaborate with Breaux Brothers Enterprises in Louisiana, where five ROMULUS 151 vessels are currently under construction.

Andy Green, executive vice president of HII and president of HII's Mission Technologies division, said the partnership adds industrial capacity for autonomous maritime production at scale. William Hidalgo Jr., executive vice president and chief operating officer of Halimar Shipyard, said his team will apply decades of vessel construction experience to the program.

HII said the arrangement expands its distributed manufacturing model along the Gulf Coast, which also includes Breaux Brothers Enterprises, Bayou Metals, and Sydney-based design firm Incat Crowther. The company said the multi-site approach is intended to reduce lead times, increase surge capacity, and support consistent serial delivery of ROMULUS vessels.

The ROMULUS platform is described as a modular, AI-enabled USV designed for missions including intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, mine countermeasures, strike operations, and the launch and recovery of unmanned underwater and aerial vehicles.