Miles Jamison 
HII announced that its ROMULUS unmanned surface vessel prototype is 30 percent complete and is on track for sea trials during the fourth quarter of 2026.
Company executives visited the shipyard in Loreauville, Louisiana, with partners Breaux Brothers and Incat Crowther to inspect hull construction, Odyssey Autonomous Control System integration and outfitting work, HII said Thursday.
“ROMULUS is progressing at a pace that reflects the urgency of the mission and the strength of our partnerships,” said Andy Green, president of mission technologies at HII.
“Breaux Brothers and our industry team are delivering a platform that brings scale, autonomy and real operational advantage to the fleet. At 30% complete, the ROMULUS prototype is well on its way to becoming the benchmark for unmanned surface capability,” added the seven-time Wash100 Award winner.
What Is the ROMULUS Unmanned Surface Vessel?
HII’s ROMULUS USV, the first in its modular, artificial intelligence-enabled series, is engineered for sustained open-ocean autonomous operations, including intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, or ISR, counter-unmanned aerial systems, mine countermeasures, strike missions, and unmanned underwater vehicle and unmanned aerial vehicle launch and recovery.
Developed with support from Dark Sea Labs, ROMULUS is powered by HII’s Odyssey Autonomous Control System, enabling multi-agent swarming, modular payloads and manned-unmanned teaming, with integrated capabilities from Shield AI, Applied Intuition and C3 AI for enhanced autonomous performance and lifecycle sustainment.
