Birdon has started construction of the first tranche of its Medium Unmanned Surface Vessel at C&C Marine and Repair's shipyard in Belle Chasse, La.
The autonomous vessel program pairs C&C Marine's vessel production work with autonomy software from Mythos AI, while Birdon serves as prime contractor with design authority and systems integration responsibility.
"Starting the build moves this effort from planning into execution. It demonstrates our certainty of delivery, founded on in-place - not promised - capacity," said Birdon President Kevin Mooney.
"Birdon, C&C Marine, and Mythos are combining industry-leading operationally deployed autonomy with a globally proven, robust vessel. We are pairing production-ready engineering with a trusted serial manufacturer."
Mooney said the team intends to "deliver mission-focused solutions for U.S. and allied military customers."
The companies are building on a working relationship established under the Ancillary Surface Craft program, the Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory effort for which Birdon designed a 150' next-generation landing craft and tapped C&C to build two prototypes.
"Our teams demonstrated on the ASC program that we can deliver vessels on time and on budget," said Anthony Cibilich, C&C Marine president and owner.
"We are proud to continue that partnership on this first block of MUSVs, with a planned production pace of one vessel every two months."
The MUSV marketplace replaced the Navy's earlier Modular Attack Surface Craft program and shifts development risk onto industry by favoring mission-ready platforms over government-funded prototypes.
The Navy selected seven companies in late May to put their vessels through at-sea testing: Sea Machines, Leidos, Saronic Technologies, Galliano Marine Services, PacMar Technologies, Birdon and Huntington Ingalls Industries. The seven were culled from roughly two dozen submissions. Each company that completes the trials successfully receives $15 million and becomes eligible for follow-on production. Testing began in June and is scheduled to conclude by October.
Navy requirements call for a vessel with at least 2,500 nautical miles of range at 25 knots, carrying up to 25 metric tons of cargo or weapons in at least two 40' containers and operating autonomously in sea state 4.
Roughly $2.1 billion was set aside for the vessels in the reconciliation bill, and fiscal 2027 budget documents earmark $171 million for three MUSVs and $3.1 billion over five years for 47 hulls.
Birdon and Mythos AI signed a memorandum of understanding at Sea-Air-Space 2026 to jointly pursue MUSV work, with Mythos supplying navigation, perception, command and control, and mission software. Birdon is separately building a 400,000-sq.-ft. shipyard at the Port of Pensacola, in Florida, backed by a $76 million Triumph Gulf Coast grant, with operations slated to start in the third quarter of 2027.
