HII

HII (Huntington Ingalls Industries) is the United States' largest military shipbuilder and the maker of the REMUS family of uncrewed underwater vehicles (UUVs). At the Combined Naval Event in Farnborough from 19 to 21 May 2026, HII pushed its autonomous underwater capabilities toward the Royal Navy through a partnership with British defence company Babcock, on the ARMOR Force autonomous maritime operations and recovery initiative. HII has delivered more than 750 REMUS UUVs to over 30 countries, and a REMUS 600 was launched and recovered through the torpedo tube of the submarine USS Delaware, demonstrating the launch-and-recovery capability that turns a submerged boat into a forward sensor host.

HII's UK strategy is structured as an industrial foothold rather than a direct export: it has enlarged its facility at Portchester as a European hub for allied navies, routing its pitch through Babcock rather than competing against British firms. The model converts a US export into a UK industrial presence that is harder to displace on sovereignty grounds.

The strategic context is seabed infrastructure protection. As subsea cables and pipelines enter the defence threat picture, navies guarding them face procurement urgency, and HII's torpedo-tube UUV capability is the technology at the centre of that race across NATO.