iscover
Australian Minister for Defence Industry Pat Conroy has officially opened the Ocius Technology advanced engineering, production and maintenance hub for Bluebottle uncrewed surface vessels in Sydney, including a new 24/7 global operations centre supporting missions worldwide.
It’s understood that Australia will also provide Bluebottles from Ocius to the Fijian government to assist in intercepting illegal drug vessels in the region in 2027, while the US and Japan are reportedly also interested in the vessels.
Minister Conroy officially opened the site on 16 October at a ceremony attended by representatives from the Royal Australian Navy, customers, partners and industry stakeholders.
The upgraded engineering and manufacturing operation significantly increases Ocius’ capacity to meet the growing demand for autonomous maritime surveillance systems in Australia and overseas.
Production is now scaling to deliver 40 additional Australian-designed and built Bluebottles under the Australian government’s $176 million investment announced in March 2026, as well as forecast additional international orders.
“Ocius is a great Australian success story, developing world-leading maritime technology right here in Sydney. Ocius is a prime example of Australian innovation and ingenuity that has created over 70 jobs over the last 12 months while supporting other small businesses and jobs through its supply chain,” Minister Conroy said.
“I’ve said before that I want potential adversaries to understand that when they see an Ocius Bluebottle USV, it is a signal to get out of our ocean.
“These new facilities will help deliver Bluebottles to the Royal Australian Navy, meet demand for Bluebottles from around the world, and boost Ocius’ maritime operations capability.”
The expansion follows the establishment earlier in the week of Ocius’ first overseas advanced maritime maintenance base in Auckland, operated through its wholly owned subsidiary, Ocius New Zealand.
Construction has also been completed on Ocius’ new state-of-the-art Global Operations Centre, with simultaneous multi-mission capacity. The centre will enable sophisticated round-the-clock mission monitoring and coordination for defence and civilian customers across the world.
The site also incorporates dedicated research and development areas to advance the Bluebottle platform and its sensor, autonomy and mission systems.
Additional engineering, manufacturing and technical space will accommodate Ocius’ rapidly increasing high-tech workforce, having grown to over 130 staff, while also allowing room for further scale.
Powered by solar, wind and wave energy, Bluebottle USVs act as “satellites of the sea” and can remain at sea for extended periods, delivering persistent intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance without the need for continuous crewed deployment.
The Bluebottle Hybrid, which carries diesel as supplemental fuel source, is also produced at the same Sydney facility.
Bluebottles provide real-time surface and subsurface maritime awareness for defence, customs and other agencies, working alongside crewed and uncrewed assets as part of an integrated surveillance network.
“The opening is an important next step in Ocius’ evolution and our ability to deliver sovereign maritime technology at scale for customers in Australia and around the world,” said Robert Dane, chief executive officer of Ocius Technology.
“It brings together the people, technology and manufacturing expertise needed to build Australia’s Bluebottle fleet at pace, sustain vessels already operating at sea and respond to increasing global demand.
“Ocius began as an R&D operation at UNSW. Today, we have a major Australian manufacturing base, a 24/7 global operations centre and an expanding international presence.
“That progression shows what Australian innovation can achieve when world-leading research is transformed into operational technology at scale.”
Want to see more stories from trusted news sources?
Make Defence Connect a preferred news source on Google.
Click here to add Defence Connect as a preferred news source.