HII says it will present a distributed maritime operations framework designed to support the U.S. Navy’s “Hedge Strategy” Fighting Instructions at the Sea-Air-Space Expo 2026 in National Harbor, Maryland.
The company said the framework brings together warships, modular and containerised capabilities, autonomous unmanned systems and open-architecture mission technologies, with the aim of enabling joint operations across maritime, air, space, cyber and land domains.
According to HII, the framework is intended to allow commanders to generate intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance and combat power from dispersed locations by integrating manned fleet assets with unmanned platforms, using data-driven command and control, and deploying containerised payloads.
HII’s outline includes integrating surface combatants with a common control station for multi-domain unmanned capabilities, and using a range of unmanned platforms and mission systems, including ROMULUS unmanned surface vessels and REMUS unmanned undersea vehicles.
The company also highlighted two mission software elements: the Minotaur Mission Management System, which it described as HII-developed and government-owned, and the Odyssey Autonomous Control System for coordinating unmanned operations. HII said Minotaur fuses multi-domain sensor data to provide a common operating picture, while Odyssey uses autonomy algorithms and artificial intelligence to support navigation and coordinated behaviours.
HII said the approach is intended to reflect a broader shift in naval operations towards distributed, networked models that combine manned and unmanned platforms, and to enable data collected in one domain to produce effects in another as part of joint and coalition operations.
The company said containerised, mission-ready payloads are a key part of the model, aimed at shortening integration timelines and allowing rapid reconfiguration across different platforms.
HII also said the framework is positioned to complement aircraft carrier strike groups by extending reach and awareness through distributed unmanned-enabled forces.
