Robot Ships on the Bayou: Acadiana Shipyards Position for the Navy's Unmanned Fleet

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/

Congress Needs to Weigh Obesity as a National Security Concern

From Eastern Europe to the Taiwan Strait, the global geopolitical situation is increasingly unstable, and our long-term alliances and friendships are coming into focus. Nowhere is that clearer than in Europe, where it’s reassuring to see our allies firmly in alignment and stepping up to meet their NATO commitments. As a retired Army officer who served in West Germany, a longtime US representative to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, and an outspoken champion of this critical alliance, I’m thrilled to see the West united in this uncertain time.

But after some in Washington spent years lecturing NATO members about their treaty obligations, I’m concerned that the United States may soon be unable to fully meet our own commitments, particularly as it matters most: the ability to put boots on the ground if needed. That’s because the United States is facing a growing, and mostly unaddressed, crisis of military readiness. We have the best weapons and men and women in the uniform, but too many Americans in the cohort most likely to enlist – those 17 to 24 years of age – are unable to do so.

Read more: Congress Needs to Weigh Obesity as a National Security Concern

Check Out Ashleigh Banfield's Takedown of Gregory Salcido

Photo source: Stars and Stripes

Did you see the video of the douchebag that went on a rant that downgraded the US military and the folks that serve?  This assclown has the audacity to spout that the soldiers and sailors in the world's finest military are basically dumbasses and that we shouldn't be proud of their service.  And this was done by a school teacher and a councilman from, of all places, California.

Well, Ashleigh Banfield went on an epic takedown of this clown and it was priceless.  Check this out:

Just How Low Will John Bel Go and the Military Mom Who Spoke Up

Photo source: NOLA

If there was any doubt on how low the Democrats will go in order to win the Governor's Office in Louisiana, it was evident this past weekend when John Bel Edwards' campaign released what amounts to, in my words, pure filth.  The accusation by his campaign was that Sen. Vitter put "prostitutes over patriots" while in DC.  In what has to be felt as a proverbial slap in the face, a mother of a slain guardsman is requesting that the video be pulled because of how offensive it really is.

Sen. Vitter has been a staunch advocate for the military.  Vitter, in this particular instance, was able to secure an exemption for this fallen soldier's burial at Arlington.  He was initially denied this honor because his death did not occur in the line of duty, but Vitter ensured that he was given appropriate honor by securing this exemption.

For someone going about promoting his "honor", this is about the most dishonorable thing that could be done by a campaign.  The Democrats and John Bel Edwards should immediately apologize to veterans and their families and this video needs to be taken down, for the sake of "honor."

ANOTHER CASE OF LIBERALS TAKING THINGS TO A WHOLE NEW LEVEL

Source: www.bizpacreview.com

You can be sure, any time a liberal has a good idea, it usually ends up having either an embarrassing or detrimental effect on our society.  This just happens to be one of the those cases where liberals have embarrassed a group of people, that being ROTC members pressured to parade around in high heels.  Sounds crazy?  Well, it is.  The great thinkers in higher education and the liberal hierarchy in the ROTC at Temple University decided that these young people ought to be made to wear red high heels in promotion of a "walk a mile in my shoes" awareness campaign highlighting sexual assault against women.

To be sure, sexual assault is an important issue that should be highlighted, but clown shows like this only degrade the ideals of raising the awareness of this issue.  And to use the military in such a fashion only shows what our leaders in higher education and the Obama administration really feel about our men and women wearing the uniform.

Read more: ROTC members furious about being forced to parade around in red high heels