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While many companies talk about innovative defence capability, Ocius, a Sydney-based maritime robotics company, is delivering it. With operational contracts supporting multiple navies, Ocius is not presenting concepts on slides; it is providing 24/7 maritime surveillance operations to customers at this time of evolving security threat.
With over two decades of development, real-world deployment and continuous refinement, Ocius has emerged as a global leader in autonomous maritime surveillance. Its flagship platform is the 7.4m Bluebottle USV, powered by renewable energy. In partnership with the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) and Australian Border Force, the Bluebottle USV has been delivering maritime ISR in Northern Australia. Assigned ambitious sensor and endurance goals, Ocius has continued to develop the platform’s capability.
Using fully winchable thin line array (TLA) technology, first deployed on a Bluebottle USV in 2018, and upgraded sensors, Ocius is achieving these goals in real-world deployment.
Bluebottles now average 2.5 months at sea, with a record continuous deployment of a single Bluebottle USV at 165 days. Across the fleet, vessel utilisation is approaching 300 days per vessel per year, reflecting exceptional reliability and mission persistence.
In the United States, Bluebottle USVs operated by Prime contractor ThayerMahan have completed ASW demonstrations for the United States Navy. They successfully weathered the 2025 Atlantic Sea Fujiwhara hurricanes (Hurricane Humberto and Hurricane Imelda), enduring winds over 80 knots and recording approximately 20-metre (70ft) waves, a testament to their robust design and survivability.
In the last 18 months, Ocius has doubled its workforce to over 100 staff, relocated to a state-of-the-art 1500sqm facility in Sydney, established a forward operating base in Darwin employing local staff to look after a fleet of Bluebottle USVs and added a pre-production facility adjacent to their boat builder to enable just in time delivery to the Sydney facility. This growth is driven not by venture capital hype, or stylised renderings, but by delivering real value and efficiencies through customer contracts and stakeholder partnerships.
“Bluebottles were designed from day one to be anti-submarine warfare USVs, to deploy arrays to significant depths and survive and thrive in the harshest maritime conditions with no crew, no fuel - just persistent presence," says CEO Robert Dane.
"We baked into the design on day one the ability to launch and recover from any boat ramp, giving customers flexibility, responsiveness and low cost. COVID was a crucible that taught us to be vertically integrated, building both the hardware and the software in-house. Today our clever Australian and global partners add the ‘apps’ while we enable AI on the edge and mesh with other sensors and platforms to create force multiplication. It’s very exciting and transformational."
Ocius is not standing still. Their strategy is to scale globally with trusted partners, remain proudly Australian, and ride the wave of AI, autonomy and uncrewed systems.
They will soon unveil a hybrid 24’ Bluebottle USV featuring a keel winch and a diesel generator accompanying the usual renewable energy power sources. Designed for high-power operations including ASW missions in high latitudes, where solar energy is limited in winter, this new variant uses the same hull, trailers and logistics, and operates under the same AMSA regulations, ensuring operational flexibility and cost-efficiency.
With sales and operations in Australia, New Zealand and the USA, Ocius is not just ready for the future; it’s actively building it. The company is seeking talented individuals to join its mission and welcomes engagement from stakeholders across Defence, industry and government.
To learn more or get involved, visit ocius.com.au
