Celeste Vance 
HII said Monday it has received an option year production contract for the U.S. Navy’s Lionfish small unmanned undersea vehicle program, extending production of the service’s next-generation autonomous underwater system.
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How Does the New Contract Advance the Lionfish Program?
The award builds on a five-year production contract valued at up to more than $347 million that HII secured in 2023 to manufacture Lionfish vehicles for the Navy. The contract established Lionfish as the service’s next-generation program of record for small unmanned undersea vehicles.
Based on HII’s commercially developed REMUS 300 platform, Lionfish resulted from a rapid prototyping effort conducted in collaboration with the U.S. Navy and the Defense Innovation Unit.
The latest option year award follows another major milestone announced by HII earlier this year, when the company completed the 42nd Lionfish vehicle at its Pocasset, Massachusetts, manufacturing facility, marking the completion of the program’s final base-year production build.
What Missions Does the Lionfish SUUV Support?
Lionfish is designed as a multi-mission autonomous underwater vehicle capable of supporting a wide range of undersea warfare operations. The platform is intended to conduct mine countermeasures, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions, anti-submarine warfare and electronic warfare operations.
What Did HII Executive Say About the Award?
Duane Fotheringham, president of the Unmanned Systems group within HII’s Mission Technologies division, said the decision to exercise this option year production of the Lionfish program reflects the U.S. Navy’s confidence in the platform’s operational performance, reliability and adaptability.
“Our team remains focused on delivering advanced autonomous systems that provide sailors and marines with critical undersea warfare capabilities in support of evolving mission requirements,” he added.
