The US Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) has officially recognised the successful completion of the Watcher small Unmanned Surface Vessel (sUSV) under its Production-Ready, Inexpensive, Maritime Expeditionary (PRIME) prototype programme, positioning HII's autonomous interceptor for potential production for the US Marine Corps.
What The Watcher Is
Announced by HII on 11 August 2026, the Watcher sUSV is built on the company's ROMULUS-25 unmanned surface vessel platform and powered by its Odyssey Autonomous Control System. It was engineered with hull partner MetalCraft Marine, a Canadian aluminium shipbuilder that fabricated the high-speed interceptor's aluminium platform.
Why This Matters
DIU's memo to HII said the Watcher had "successfully demonstrated its appropriateness to address the Department of the Navy's operational need for sUSV interceptors" — vessels capable of transiting hundreds of miles through contested waterspace, loitering to monitor for threats, then sprinting to intercept a non-cooperative target. The programme achieved its key metrics under an Other Transaction Authority (OTA) framework, opening the door to a production transition, according to HII.
Autonomy Stack And Ecosystem
Odyssey ACS is a modular open systems architecture (MOSA) enabling collaborative multi-domain autonomy, intelligent navigation, mission planning and AI-enabled contact recognition at the edge. Combined with HII's existing counter-drone and unmanned underwater vehicle programmes (the REMUS family), it forms an integrated autonomous maritime ecosystem — one racing to catch other USV programme wins seen at Kraken Technology Group and Hanwha Aerospace.
The Backstory
The PRIME initiative drew 116 solution briefs. HII was selected to design, build and demonstrate its response, delivering two Watcher ROMULUS-25 vessels for December 2025 sea testing. Since then the pair have completed government-led autonomy assessments, seakeeping trials and degraded-environment testing — with the Watcher now cleared to move from prototype to potential production.
Reporting based on coverage from HII Newsroom, Naval News and Seapower Magazine.