HII announced on July 6, 2026 that the U.S. Navy has exercised the option year on its Lionfish small unmanned undersea vehicle production contract, extending the service's first-ever transition from an Other Transaction Authority prototype to full-rate production under a program that could reach 200 vehicles.
REMUS 300, Militarised
Lionfish is derived from HII's commercial REMUS 300 platform — a modular, open-architecture SUUV built to swap payloads for mine countermeasures, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR), anti-submarine warfare and electronic warfare missions. It is the only cyber-compliant unmanned underwater vehicle currently in production for the U.S. Navy, with a five-year program value that could exceed $347 million.
Momentum From The Base Year
HII closed out 2025 with the 42nd Lionfish rolling off the line at its Pocasset, Massachusetts facility. "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," said Duane Fotheringham, president of the Unmanned Systems group in HII's Mission Technologies division.
REMUS's Global Footprint
HII has delivered more than 700 REMUS UUVs to 30-plus countries, including 14 NATO members, and says more than 90% of the family delivered in the past 25 years remain in active service. Lionfish's open-architecture design is meant to keep that lifespan intact as sensor and payload technology iterates.
The award sits inside a broader Pentagon unmanned buildup that also includes the DIU's $300M SWAP-USV push for robot boats, AeroVironment's $117M P550 Army order and Red Cat's Black Widow Air Force award.
Reporting based on coverage from HII, Army Recognition and DVIDS.