Autonomous Surface Vessel Advances to At-Sea Testing & Evaluation

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 ROMULUS family of Unmanned Surface Vessels is designed to meet the current and emerging requirements of the U.S. Navy, U.S. Marine Corps, joint forces, and allies, delivering high-endurance, sustained open-ocean autonomy focused on lethality, cost, efficiency, and scalability. These platforms support diverse missions, including intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance; counter-unmanned air systems; mine countermeasures; strike; and the launch and recovery of unmanned underwater vehicles and unmanned aerial vehicles.

The platform incorporates HII’s Odyssey Autonomous Control Solutions, an autonomy software suite currently deployed on REMUS unmanned underwater vehicles and ROMULUS platforms in 30 countries to transform vehicles into intelligent robotic systems. Through flexible vehicle-, module-, and algorithm-level implementations across diverse platforms, sensors, payloads, and mission profiles, the software delivers multi-vehicle collaborative autonomy, sensor fusion, and advanced perception capabilities. When paired with REMUS unmanned underwater vehicles, ROMULUS extends undersea reach and supports a scalable dual-domain force package built for distributed maritime operations.

Andy Green, executive vice president of HII and president of HII’s Mission Technologies division, stated, “HII is proud that ROMULUS USV has advanced to the U.S. Navy’s Medium Unmanned Surface Vessel evaluation phase, a milestone that reflects HII’s longstanding track record for delivering mission-ready autonomous capabilities that support the U.S. Navy’s evolving operational requirements.

“At the core of the ROMULUS USV is HII’s extensive experience as a global leader in autonomous unmanned maritime systems, combined with HII’s Odyssey Autonomous Control Solutions, a proven autonomy software suite and a key differentiator of our solution. Demonstrated across programs supporting the U.S. Navy, U.S. Marine Corps, U.S. Coast Guard, and allied partners, Odyssey enables intuitive command and control of autonomous platforms and swarms across domains, enhancing fleet lethality, survivability, and operational effectiveness.

“We appreciate the U.S. Navy’s confidence in ROMULUS and look forward to demonstrating the platform’s maturity, reliability, and operational effectiveness in support of the service’s vision for autonomous maritime operations.”