HII wins U.S. Navy contract to build 10 Romulus unmanned vessels

HII (NYSE: HII) has been awarded a U.S. Navy contract to build 10 ROMULUS unmanned surface vessels (USVs) under the Medium Unmanned Surface Vessel (MUSV) program, according to a company statement.

The ROMULUS vessels are powered by HII's Odyssey Autonomous Control Solutions (ACS), a modular autonomy suite designed for surface and undersea operations. During the MUSV evaluation phase, HII's system completed a 420-nautical-mile mission over 28 hours in the Gulf of America across a 13-day testing period conducted under U.S. Navy oversight.

"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. "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 U.S. Navy requires."

HII began investing in ROMULUS production infrastructure in 2025, ahead of the contract award. The company uses a distributed production model involving Gulf Coast partners Breaux Brothers Enterprises, Halimar Shipyard, and Bayou Metal Supply & Manufacturing in Louisiana. The vessels were developed in partnership with Beier Integrated Systems and Incat Crowther, with autonomy work conducted alongside Applied Intuition, Greenroom Robotics, and Rodi Marine.

HII recently announced a 10,000-square-foot expansion to its existing 40,000-square-foot unmanned manufacturing campus to support production of both the ROMULUS USV and REMUS unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV) lines. The company states it has delivered more than 750 REMUS UUVs to customers in more than 30 countries.

"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.

HII is headquartered in Virginia and employs approximately 45,000 people.

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