Media Briefing: HII and Incat Crowther of Sydney Showcase Strategic USV Partnership at Indo Pacific 2025, Emphasizing Australia's Role in Global Defense Innovation
Wednesday, Nov. 5, 2025
11:00 a.m.
Indo Pacific International Maritime Exposition
International Convention Centre Sydney, Australia
HII Booth Number: 2A34
SYDNEY, Nov. 04, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- HII (NYSE:HII), America's largest military shipbuilder and a global leader in unmanned autonomous maritime systems, will join with Sydney-based Incat Crowther at the Indo Pacific International Maritime Exposition to highlight the transformative international partnership shaping the future of unmanned surface vessel (USV) technology and global defense collaboration.
The briefing will focus on the companies' collaboration on ROMULUS, HII's newly announced family of modular, AI-enabled USVs powered by the advanced Odyssey™ Autonomous Control System (ACS). The flagship of the program, ROMULUS 190, is currently under construction in close coordination with Incat Crowther reinforcing Australia's critical strategic integration into the global defense industrial base.
A video and image accompanying this release are available at: http://hii.com/news/media-briefing-hii-and-incat-crowther-of-sydney-showcase-strategic-usv-partnership-at-indo-pacific-2025-emphasizing-australias-role-in-global-defense-innovation/.
"ROMULUS is a force multiplier," said Andy Green, president of HII's Mission Technologies division. "By combining U.S. shipbuilding strength, AI-driven autonomy, and the expertise of international partners like Incat Crowther, we are delivering an adaptable, scalable system for today's and tomorrow's maritime missions."
Dr. Andrew Tuite, the Technical Director of Incat Crowther, reinforced the importance of the collaboration: "This program is a milestone for Australian defense design and engineering. Our role in ROMULUS 190 is proof that Australia is not just a regional contributor, but a critical player in the global defense industrial base. Together with HII, we're building the future of autonomous maritime operations."
ROMULUS 190 is a 190-foot, AI-enabled USV built on a commercial-standard hull and designed for rapid, repeatable production. With speeds over 25 knots and a range of 2,500 nautical miles while carrying four 40-foot ISO containers, it is purpose-built for global mission deployment and sustained autonomy. The vessel is being developed in partnership with Incat Crowther, Breaux Brothers and Beier Integrated Systems.
Driven by HII's Odyssey ACS, ROMULUS delivers open-ocean autonomy, multi-agent swarming, and modular adaptability. It supports missions ranging from intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) and counter-unmanned air systems (C-UAS) to mine countermeasures, strike, and the launch and recovery of unmanned undersea vehicles (UUV) and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV).
The ROMULUS program underscores the importance of allied industrial partnerships in reinforcing deterrence, ensuring interoperability, and maintaining maritime dominance in contested regions. The integration of Incat Crowther into the ROMULUS initiative exemplifies how trusted international partners strengthen the global defense ecosystem with high-performance design, engineering agility, and regional expertise.
Odyssey: Proven, Open, and Evolving
Odyssey ACS software suite is capable of manned-unmanned teaming and collaborative operations with unmanned vehicles across all domains. HII's Odyssey autonomy software is deployed on over 35 USV platforms and over 750 REMUS unmanned underwater vehicles, across 30 countries, including 14 NATO members, U.S. Navy, U.S. Marine Corps, U.S. Coast Guard, and enables rapid integration of sensors and payloads for flexible mission design, enhancing the capability and effectiveness of today's naval fleets.
Odyssey's intuitive interface and enhanced, customizable features generate the required mission behaviors for greater lethality and survivability with simplified control of unmanned swarms across domains, making it a force multiplier for the modern fleet. The software suite's open-access, government-aligned architecture enables rapid integration of new sensors, payloads, and third-party autonomy technologies. It allows industry, government, and academia to test and refine capabilities, ensuring ROMULUS evolves in step with emerging naval concepts of operations.
ROMULUS integrates technologies from Shield AI, Applied Intuition, and C3 AI with HII's Odyssey for enhanced autonomy, object classification, and lifecycle sustainment.
Multi-Mission, Multi-Domain Flexibility
ROMULUS's reconfigurable design supports teaming across surface, subsurface, and air domains for missions including C-UAS, ISR, strike operations, and UUV/UAV launch and recovery.
Enhanced-Domain Advantage with HII's REMUS UUV
Paired with HII's proven REMUS UUVs, ROMULUS significantly extends undersea reach, closing anti-submarine warfare sensing gaps and keeping manned platforms at a safer standoff distance. REMUS's decades-long track record in mine counter-measures (MCM) missions accelerates clearance operations and reduces fleet risk. Together, ROMULUS and REMUS deliver a scalable dual-domain solution across surface and subsurface missions.
Reinforcing HII's Leadership
With ROMULUS, HII reinforces its position as the global leader in durable, autonomous unmanned systems. Developed with support from HII's Dark Sea Labs Advanced Technology Group, ROMULUS takes its place alongside the proven REMUS UUV line, of which more than 700 have been delivered to over 30 nations and more than 90% are still operational after more than two decades. Together, ROMULUS and REMUS, powered by HII's Odyssey autonomy, form a dual-domain family of unmanned platforms that expands operational reach, maximizes mission flexibility, and ensures dependable performance across the full maritime spectrum.
Key ROMULUS Capabilities:
- Modular, Open Architecture: Built on open standards, including Unmanned Maritime Autonomy Architecture (UMAA), Robot Operating System (ROS), and Data Distribution Service (DDS), Odyssey ensures compatibility with U.S. Navy autonomy requirements and control stations now and into the future. Odyssey's modular architecture also allows for rapid reconfiguration and integration with modular payloads, new sensors and systems.
- Multi-Agent Autonomy: Odyssey enables control of either individual assets or swarms, a key capability for enabling the future fight. Odyssey's mission library delivers high-level autonomy with ease in executing rapid single-agent tasks or complex, multi-agent scenarios in coordination with crewed and unmanned platforms. Secure data management enables instant analytics or detailed post-mission review, while its modular design supports seamless integration of customer or third-party sensors, payloads, algorithms, and interfaces.
- Intelligent Operations: Autonomous health monitoring, sensor fusion, and perception deliver intuitive mission planning, real-time situational awareness, and diagnostics. Navigation is compliant with the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea (COLREGS), ensuring operational reliability in all conditions.
- Fleet Integration: Designed to align with future fleet Concepts of Operations (CONOPS), supporting unmanned and optionally manned missions and integrated operations with aircraft carrier strike groups and surface action groups.
Learn more at: https://HII.com/romulus/.
About HII
HII is a global, all-domain defense provider. HII's mission is to deliver the world's most powerful ships and all-domain solutions in service of the nation, creating the advantage for our customers to protect peace and freedom around the world.
As the nation's largest military shipbuilder, and with a more than 135-year history of advancing U.S. national security, HII delivers critical capabilities extending from ships to unmanned systems, cyber, ISR, AI/ML and synthetic training. Headquartered in Virginia, HII's workforce is 44,000 strong. For more information, visit:
- HII on the web: https://www.HII.com/
- HII on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TeamHII
- HII on X: https://www.twitter.com/WeAreHII
- HII on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/WeAreHII
About Incat Crowther
Incat Crowther is a digital shipbuilder based in Sydney, Australia, known for its innovative approach to ship design and construction. The company has successfully completed various projects, ranging from 123m Ro Pax Ferries, 60m Fast Support Intervention ships to 24m Multi-Role Support Vessels for the Australian Navy. Their work involves using advanced design tools and their large database of proven designs, to create accurate, repeatable, and operation-ready ships. Incat Crowther's commitment to digital shipbuilding is evident in their ability to deliver high-performance vessel designs tailored to the needs of ship operators and other maritime sectors.
Contact:
Greg McCarthy
(202) 264-7126
[email protected]
A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/befddfee-864d-4bdf-acb4-5c4718d36490
