A stretch of U.S. 90 long associated with offshore oil-and-gas boat building is becoming a proving ground for a different kind of maritime industry: autonomous naval vessels.
New reporting from USNI News details how Louisiana shipyards from Iberia Parish through St. Mary Parish are competing for a role in the U.S. Navy's Medium Unmanned Surface Vessel program, an effort to field unmanned ships capable of carrying modular military payloads over long distances.
The Navy confirmed in May that seven companies advanced to at-sea testing in its MUSV marketplace. Among them are Saronic Technologies and Huntington Ingalls Industries, whose Louisiana-related work reaches directly into Acadiana's commercial shipbuilding base.
Breaux Brothers Builds Toward a Navy Opportunity
At Breaux Brothers Enterprises in Iberia Parish, four aluminum Romulus vessels are under construction through a collaboration with HII, according to USNI News.
The family-owned yard has spent generations building crew boats and other high-speed vessels for the offshore industry. That experience is relevant because the Navy's unmanned vessels share characteristics with the fast, durable workboats Gulf Coast yards have produced for decades.
USNI reports that Breaux Brothers currently employs about 65 people. Company president Brannon Breaux said the yard could add roughly 15 to 20 employees if Navy demand supports a production pace of one vessel every two months. The company is also considering adjacent land for expansion if orders materialize.
Those plans remain contingent on future production work. Prototype participation and testing do not guarantee a long-term Navy contract.
Saronic Scales Up in Franklin
Farther east on U.S. 90, Saronic is already making a much larger bet.
The defense-technology company acquired Gulf Craft in Franklin and is building out a roughly 300,000-square-foot expansion as it prepares for higher-volume production of autonomous vessels.
USNI reports that Saronic has hired around 300 people at the Franklin operation since acquiring a yard that had 29 employees. The company's stated goal is approximately 1,500 workers when the site reaches full operating capacity.
Three of Saronic's 180-foot Marauder vessels are under construction in Franklin, according to the report, while another vessel associated with the Navy marketplace has already departed for testing.
The Navy says companies that successfully complete at-sea MUSV testing can receive $15 million and become eligible for follow-on production. Testing is expected to conclude in October.
Conrad Keeps Another Acadiana Yard in the Race
Morgan City-based Conrad Shipyard is also part of the autonomous-vessel push through a partnership with Blue Water Autonomy.
Blue Water was not selected for the Navy's current MUSV prototype-testing round and is challenging the Navy's selection process along with Saildrone. The dispute remains unresolved. Conrad and Blue Water are nevertheless continuing work on their 190-foot Liberty autonomous vessel, according to USNI.
The broader opportunity is bigger than any single design.
Acadiana's shipyards have endured repeated offshore-energy cycles, leaving the region with experienced welders, fabricators, naval architects and production facilities that can build sophisticated vessels. The Navy is now explicitly looking beyond traditional prime contractors for additional shipbuilding capacity.
Whether that becomes a durable new industry for South Louisiana will depend on actual Navy orders.
But the work already underway from Iberia Parish to Franklin and Morgan City shows that the skills developed building boats for the Gulf of Mexico may also have a place in the Navy's autonomous future.
Source Notes
USNI News, Sept. 23, 2026: https://news.usni.org/2026/09/23/three-louisiana-shipyards-are-vying-for-a-stake-in-navys-autonomous-future
U.S. Navy, May 29, 2026: https://www.navy.mil/Press-Office/Press-Releases/display-pressreleases/Article/4503917/us-navy-announces-seven-companies-selected-for-musv-marketplace-at-sea-demonstr/
