The U.S. Navy has selected HII's ROMULUS unmanned surface vessel to advance to the at-sea testing phase of the Medium Unmanned Surface Vessel (MUSV) program, the company announced on June 1, 2026. ROMULUS is one of seven industry designs that will now demonstrate operational maturity at sea before the Navy down-selects for follow-on production.
Inside the MUSV down-select
The at-sea phase is scheduled to run through October. Each successful design will be awarded $15 million and become eligible for follow-on production contracts, giving HII and its competitors a clear path from prototype to fleet integration. The Navy's broader plan calls for operational MUSV systems to be available for lease or procurement starting in fiscal year 2027.
What ROMULUS brings to the test
The ROMULUS family is engineered for long-endurance open-ocean autonomy and is designed to support intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, counter-unmanned air systems, mine countermeasures, strike, and the launch and recovery of unmanned underwater vehicles and UAVs. Paired with HII's REMUS UUVs, ROMULUS is intended to act as a multi-domain force multiplier for distributed maritime operations.
Odyssey autonomy as the differentiator
HII is positioning its Odyssey Autonomous Control Solutions as the platform's key differentiator. Odyssey is already deployed on REMUS UUV and ROMULUS USV platforms across 30 countries, enabling multi-vehicle collaborative autonomy, sensor fusion and advanced perception. "Odyssey enables intuitive command and control of autonomous platforms and swarms across domains, enhancing fleet lethality, survivability, and operational effectiveness," said Andy Green, executive vice president of HII and president of the Mission Technologies division.
Part of a wider naval autonomy push
The MUSV selection extends an aggressive push by HII to commercialise autonomy, building on its earlier ROMULUS showcase at Combined Naval Event 2026 in the UK and the company's expanded ROMULUS production facility in Portchester. It also lands alongside other recent service deals such as the Navy's selection of seven MUSV concepts for prototype evaluation and Saronic's $1.75B Series D for autonomous warships.
Reporting based on coverage from HII, Naval News, GlobeNewswire and Executive Biz.