Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) has significantly expanded its unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV) facility in Portchester, United Kingdom, doubling the site’s footprint to meet rising demand for advanced autonomous maritime systems. The expansion boosts HII’s capacity to support operators of the widely deployed REMUS family of underwater drones, reinforcing the company’s footprint in the European defense market.
The upgraded Portchester facility will function as a regional unmanned systems hub, delivering operational, technical, and logistics support for platforms used by the Royal Navy, U.S. combatant commands, and allied European navies. Services will include live and virtual training, system integration, and long-term sustainment, with a focus on electronic warfare readiness, artificial intelligence-enabled autonomy, and fleet modernization initiatives.
HII’s REMUS UUV portfolio supports a broad range of missions, including mine countermeasures, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR), hydrographic surveying, and environmental monitoring. The lineup includes the compact REMUS 130, optimized for rapid deployment in shallow waters; the REMUS 300, offering increased endurance and payload capacity; and the REMUS 620, which features modular upgrades, modern electronics, and endurance of up to 110 hours with operations to 620 meters depth. At the high end, the REMUS 6000 enables deep-sea missions to depths of 6,000 meters, supporting complex recovery and scientific operations.
The facility will also support the upcoming deployment of HII’s ROMULUS unmanned surface vessel (USV) family, powered by the Odyssey Autonomous Control System. Designed for autonomous open-ocean operations and coordinated swarm missions, the ROMULUS 190 is currently under construction, with sea trials scheduled later this year. Built on a commercial-standard hull for scalable production, the USVs are expected to exceed 25 knots in speed and achieve operational ranges of 2,500 nautical miles, expanding naval autonomy across surface and subsurface domains.
