HII kicks off production of four more ROMULUS USVs

HII has revealed plans for the production of four ROMULUS 151 vessels to be built by Breaux Brothers Enterprises in Louisiana, in addition to the ROMULUS 151 currently under construction.

ROMULUS is a modular family of AI-enabled USVs designed to meet current and emerging requirements for the US Navy, US Marine Corps, joint forces, and allied partners.

The platform supports a wide range of missions, including intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR), mine countermeasures, strike operations, counter-unmanned systems, and the launch and recovery of unmanned underwater and aerial vehicles.

Engineered for serial, repeatable production, ROMULUS vessels combine endurance, global reach, and modular adaptability, according to Lockheed Martin. The family is designed to scale across multiple vessel sizes while maintaining a common manufacturing approach and autonomy baseline.

“ROMULUS represents a shift in how we deliver unmanned capability to the fleet,” said Andy Green, executive vice president of HII and president of HII’s Mission Technologies division.

“We are combining shipbuilding experience, scalable manufacturing, proven autonomy, and strong industry partnerships to move quickly from prototype to operational deployment. The progress we are seeing today — including these initial production vessels — reinforces that we are on a disciplined path to deliver meaningful capability at speed and at scale.”

The ROMULUS program is supported by HII’s expanding unmanned vessel production ecosystem, including its assembly facility at Breaux Brothers Enterprises and the High-Yield Production Robotics (HYPR) initiative. Together, these efforts are designed to transition unmanned vessel production from prototype builds to high-rate, digitally enabled manufacturing.