HII marked construction progress on the first vessel on October 28 with the ceremonial installation of a hull plaque. The ships were ordered under the Navy’s Medium Unmanned Surface Vessel program.
The company began securing production capacity, suppliers and infrastructure in 2025. Louisiana partners include Breaux Brothers Enterprises, Halimar Shipyard and Bayou Metal Supply & Manufacturing, while Beier Integrated Systems and Incat Crowther helped develop the vessel.
“For four generations, our family has built vessels right here in Louisiana, and today we are proud to put that experience to work in support of the United States Navy,” said Brannon Breaux, president of Breaux Brothers Enterprises. “Building HII’s Romulus USV is an opportunity to serve our country in a way that means a great deal to me personally and my shipbuilders.”
Before the award, HII and partners Applied Intuition, Greenroom Robotics and Rodi Marine completed 13 days of Navy-monitored evaluation. The Odyssey autonomy system completed a 420-nautical-mile mission simulation over 28 hours and met all established success criteria, according to HII.
“And when the U.S. Navy put us to the test in the Gulf, Romulus met all the Navy requirements,” said Chris Kastner, HII’s president and chief executive officer. “That’s the kind of team we like to assemble, one that can be trusted to compete and win.”
Odyssey handles navigation, onboard systems and payloads, allowing vessels to coordinate with crewed and uncrewed platforms with limited human intervention. Its open architecture supports the addition of sensors, command-and-control technology and AI capabilities.
HII designed the wider Romulus family for surveillance, mine countermeasures, strike operations and counter-unmanned missions. The modular vessels can also support the launch and recovery of uncrewed underwater and aerial vehicles.
