Huntington Ingalls Industries and MetalCraft Marine have delivered and sea-tested two autonomous unmanned surface vessel (USV) prototypes for the U.S. Marine Corps under a Defense Innovation Unit contract focused on smaller-form autonomous boats.
The two ROMULUS-25 USVs were delivered in December 2025 and recently completed testing and demonstrations of autonomous mission behaviors at sea, according to HII.
The 27' ROMULUS-25 is designed as a high-speed interceptor vessel capable of carrying up to 1,000 lbs. of payload with a range of up to 1,000 nautical miles. The vessel operates autonomously using HII’s Odyssey autonomy suite, an AI-enabled system designed to integrate multiple sensors and effectors for maritime operations.
“Successfully delivering on this prototype contract with the Defense Innovation Unit and the U.S. Marine Corps is a strong recognition of HII’s deep experience and the maturity of our proven autonomous technologies,” Andy Green, executive vice president of HII and president of HII’s Mission Technologies division, said in a statement.
According to HII, the Odyssey autonomy system has logged more than 2,200 hours of autonomous operations during government-led tests and exercises over the past five years. The company said the autonomy suite has also been deployed across more than 30 platforms, totaling more than 12,000 hours of at-sea operations.
The company said Odyssey uses a modular open systems architecture designed to integrate with HII’s Minotaur targeting network and support AI-based contact recognition and identification capabilities.
The ROMULUS-25 is part of HII’s broader USV portfolio, which ranges from 7' micro-USVs to the 190' ROMULUS-190 aluminum USV platform capable of carrying multiple containerized payloads.
HII said the project is part of ongoing efforts with MetalCraft Marine to support hybrid manned-unmanned fleet operations and autonomous maritime capabilities for naval missions.
