Belle Chasse
Louisiana community south of New Orleans, home to a naval air station and boatbuilding
Belle Chasse became an uncrewed-boat build site on 24 September 2026, when Birdon laid down a medium robot boat at C&C Marine and Repair. Mythos AI writes its autonomy software, and the local yard aims to finish a hull every two months.
Last refreshed: 7 October 2026
Timeline for Belle Chasse
Mentioned in: Birdon builds an MUSV, buyer undisclosed
Autonomous Systems: Land & SeaBackground
Belle Chasse is an unincorporated community on the West Bank of the Mississippi, about 25 miles south of New Orleans. It is the largest community in Plaquemines Parish, with 10,579 residents at the 2020 census. Its economy leans on the military and the river: it hosts Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base New Orleans, which moved there in 1957, and the Louisiana Air National Guard's 159th Fighter Wing, alongside boatbuilders serving The Gulf.
One of those yards is now building military robot boats. C&C Marine and Repair started work on Birdon's medium uncrewed surface vessel on 24 September 2026; the Belle Chasse yard intends a new hull every two months, and Mythos AI provides the autonomy software.
Birdon was one of seven companies the US Navy chose in May 2026 for at-SEA trials of medium uncrewed surface vessels, each worth $15m to a firm that completes them. It was not on the Navy's 29 September production list, so the Belle Chasse build is a bet on a later tranche, and the town's place in the programme depends on it.