United States
Australia
United Kingdom
Europe
New Zealand
Canada
The U.S. Defense Innovation Unit has recognized the successful completion of HII’s Production-Ready, Inexpensive, Maritime Expeditionary (PRIME) prototype project built around the Watcher small unmanned surface vessel, derived from the ROMULUS-25 platform and powered by the company’s Odyssey Autonomous Control System.
The recognition follows the delivery and sea testing of two autonomous Watcher ROMULUS-25 vessels in December 2025 under a DIU contract aimed at developing smaller-form-factor autonomous surface vessels for the U.S. Marine Corps. Developed in partnership with MetalCraft Marine, the Watcher sUSV met the program’s technical objectives and is positioned for a potential shift to production.
HII’s Odyssey ACS uses a modular open systems architecture to support intelligent navigation, mission planning, collaborative behaviors and multi-domain operations. Its service-based design is intended to speed integration with other mission-enabling technologies, including AI-enabled contact recognition, identification and edge-based decision-making.
In a memorandum to HII, DIU stated: “The HII Watcher sUSV has successfully demonstrated its appropriateness to address the Department of the Navy’s operational need for sUSV interceptors, capable of autonomously transiting hundreds of miles through contested waterspace, loitering in an assigned operating area while monitoring for maritime surface threats, and then sprinting to interdict a noncooperative, maneuvering vessel.”
The memorandum also concluded that HII achieved the prototype’s key technical goals and success metrics, supporting a potential transition to production under Other Transaction Authority prototype agreements.
“This milestone is another example of HII’s strategy to rapidly transition innovative technologies from concept to operational capability,” said Duane Fotheringham, president of the Unmanned Systems group within HII’s Mission Technologies division. “As demand for autonomous systems continues to grow, HII remains focused on delivering proven, mission-ready autonomous solutions that strengthen naval readiness and provide our customers with greater operational flexibility.”
Mike Reed, General Manager of MetalCraft Marine, said, “This milestone is a significant accomplishment for the entire MetalCraft team and a strong validation of what can be achieved when our experienced boatbuilders combine their expertise with HII autonomy capabilities. The Watcher was engineered and built to deliver the speed, seakeeping, strength and reliability demanded by this mission. Successfully completing the government-led autonomy, seakeeping, performance and degraded-environment assessments confirms the quality of the aluminum platform and the discipline behind its design and construction. MetalCraft has built its reputation on high-performance aluminum vessels that perform when needed most, and this milestone positions the Watcher for the next step, from successful prototype to production”
The two ROMULUS-25 autonomous vessels completed extensive at-sea testing that demonstrated advanced autonomous mission behaviors across contractor demonstrations, government-led autonomy assessments, seakeeping and performance evaluations, and degraded-environment testing.
PRIME challenged industry to deliver commercially available, production-ready autonomous surface vessels to support maritime expeditionary operations. After a full and open competition that drew 116 solution briefs, HII was selected to design, build and demonstrate its approach.
The ROMULUS-25 is described as a high-speed interceptor capable of carrying payloads up to 1,000 pounds and operating at ranges up to 1,000 nautical miles.
HII is the world’s leading producer of autonomous underwater vehicles through its REMUS family of systems, which are deployed by the U.S. Navy and allied partners worldwide for mine countermeasures, underwater reconnaissance, intelligence collection, environmental assessment and seabed operations.
Together, the Watcher, ROMULUS USV, REMUS UUV and Odyssey ACS form an ecosystem of autonomous maritime capabilities designed to operate independently or collaboratively to extend fleet reach, enhance maritime awareness and increase mission effectiveness across a spectrum of naval operations.
HII said the successful closeout of the PRIME prototype strengthens its standing in autonomous maritime systems and sets conditions for a potential production transition.
