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Australian defence innovator Ocius has unveiled two hybrid class Bluebottle uncrewed surface vessels under the first-of-its-type milestone, as the company announces plans to accelerate production to one Bluebottle vessel-per-week by June 2026.
The company has previously sold its solar, wind and wave-powered Ocius Bluebottle uncrewed surface vessels to the Royal Australian Navy; but has now shown off a pair of new variants with added diesel engines and internal fuel storage.
The vessels are designed to provide flexible, persistent and capable long-range intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance under missions involving surface intelligence, surveillance and anti-submarine warfare as well as support for civilian maritime applications.
One of the new hybrid class Bluebottle USVs was named 'Binny' after former chief of the Australian Defence Force, Air Chief Marshal (Ret’d) Mark Binskin AC, who is the company’s Defence and National Security Adviser.
“The christening of the Bluebottle Hybrid opens up important new regions and climates where the Bluebottle can operate and where recent events have shown a growing threat,” he said.
“With a focus on meeting customer needs, Ocius continues to be powered by innovation and improvement.
“Today, Ocius provides critical operational capability to the RAN and partners.”
The Bluebottle Hybrid uses the same hull as the current 24-foot renewable energy-powered Bluebottle, enabling the hybrid vessels to use the same logistics and trailers but carry both diesel power and a keel winch for storing and deploying thin line arrays.
The other Bluebottle Hybrid is named “Butch” after Graeme “Butch” Johnston, a long-time friend of Ocius chief executive and founder Robert Dane, who closely supported early prototypes of the technology.
“A small generator with 400 litres of diesel provides enormous additional energy to complement our batteries and power from solar, wind and wave sources and enables Bluebottles to support persistent operations in new geographies globally,” Ocius chief executive officer Robert Dane said.
“The Bluebottle Hybrids can deploy sonar arrays to varying depths and do surface ISR and hydrography at high latitudes in winter where there may be little or no sun.”
Mr Dane also confirmed that the company will target an accelerated production rate of one Bluebottle per week in June next year, to take advantage of increasing international and domestic demand for the systems.
He also confirmed that the company had achieved ISO 9001 standard to allow the vessels to more consistently meet customer and regulatory requirements.
