NEW IBERIA, La. — A generation of Acadiana shipbuilding expertise is being pulled into the U.S. Navy’s push toward autonomous warfare, with Breaux Brothers Enterprises in Iberia Parish now building the first vessels in HII’s ROMULUS unmanned surface fleet.
HII marked the production milestone Tuesday at Breaux Brothers, where Gov. Jeff Landry, Vice Adm. Michael Wosje, HII President and CEO Chris Kastner and Breaux Brothers President Brannon Breaux participated in a ceremony on the first-in-class ROMULUS 151.
The Navy recently awarded HII a contract to build 10 ROMULUS 151 vessels under its Medium Unmanned Surface Vessel program. The new award moves the effort beyond prototype experimentation and toward serial production of vessels intended for operational use by the fleet.
For Acadiana, the significance is where that production is taking place. HII’s Louisiana manufacturing network includes Breaux Brothers in Iberia Parish, Halimar Shipyard in Morgan City and Bayou Metal Supply & Manufacturing. HII said in September that five ROMULUS 151 vessels were already under construction — four at Breaux Brothers and one at Halimar.
Breaux Brothers brings a very different background to the program than a traditional major defense shipyard. The family-owned company has spent generations building aluminum crew boats and other vessels for the Gulf offshore industry. That commercial experience is now being adapted to a Navy platform designed to operate with limited human intervention.
The ROMULUS 151 is a 151-foot AI-enabled unmanned surface vessel built around HII’s Odyssey autonomous-control technology. According to HII, the platform can support intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance; mine countermeasures; strike operations; counter-unmanned-system missions; and the launch and recovery of unmanned underwater and aerial vehicles.
The autonomy is more than a design concept. HII and its partners completed 13 days of Navy-monitored testing in the Gulf, including a 420-nautical-mile autonomous mission lasting 28 hours. HII says the system met the Navy’s requirements during the evaluation.
That testing matters because the Navy has spent years experimenting with unmanned vessels while trying to determine how they will fit into a larger fleet. ROMULUS is part of a broader effort to move from experimental platforms toward vessels that can be produced in numbers and deployed alongside conventional warships.
The Navy’s wider Medium Unmanned Surface Vessel plan has also created an unusual opportunity for Louisiana’s smaller and midsized commercial shipyards. Rather than concentrating all production at traditional naval yards, the service is tapping Gulf Coast builders with decades of experience producing fast, durable workboats for the offshore industry.
That could have lasting economic implications for Acadiana. Breaux Brothers currently employs about 65 people and has previously said it could add workers and expand its yard if the Navy moves into sustained production. The company has also discussed a goal of eventually producing a vessel about every two months if orders justify that pace.
The first ROMULUS vessel is expected to launch in 2027. Acadiana News First reported that Breaux Brothers has produced three vessels so far in the current effort, with each taking roughly 10 months to build, and that the company is targeting March for the first launch.
The work gives Iberia Parish a foothold in a defense market that could prove less cyclical than the offshore oil-and-gas vessel business that has historically driven much of south Louisiana shipbuilding. It also puts local welders, fabricators, electricians and marine craftsmen into a technology sector combining traditional aluminum boatbuilding with artificial intelligence and autonomous navigation.
Landry described the project as evidence of Louisiana’s maritime strength and the opportunity for stable work for Louisiana families. The more important test will come after the ceremony: whether the Navy continues ordering unmanned vessels in enough volume to create a sustained production line in Acadiana.
For now, the shift is already visible on the shop floor. A New Iberia-area yard known for generations of Gulf workboats is building vessels intended to help define what the next U.S. Navy fleet looks like.
Sources
HII — ROMULUS production milestone in Louisiana, Oct. 28, 2026
HII — First ROMULUS hull production milestone, Sept. 8, 2026
USNI News — Acadiana shipyards and Navy autonomous vessel production, Sept. 23, 2026
Acadiana News First — ROMULUS milestone at Breaux Brothers, Oct. 27, 2026
