HII delivers initial Lionfish to Navy

NATIONAL HARBOR, MD -- The first two Lionfish small uncrewed undersea vehicles have been delivered to the Navy, shipbuilder HII announced today.

Lionfish -- part of HII’s REMUS 300 class -- is modular with an open architecture and was developed through collaboration between the Navy and the Defense Innovation Unit. The Navy awarded HII a contract worth over $347 million in 2023 for the potential delivery of 200 vehicles.

“This delivery represents a key milestone in the Lionfish program,” Duane Fotheringham, president of uncrewed systems for HII’s Mission Technologies Division, said in a news release. “The success and on-time delivery of Lionfish is the product of close collaboration between the government and industry team that will put a critical mine hunting capability in the hands of sailors and marines in an operationally relevant time frame.”

In a panel on autonomous undersea warfare in March, Fotheringham shared that HII will deliver over 100 small-class UUVs this year for the Navy’s Lionfish program.