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Royal New Zealand Navy naval adviser Commander Zia Jones has confirmed new Australian-made Bluebottle uncrewed surface vessels are already bringing cooperability and capability to naval warfare in the region.
Commander Jones made the comments while speaking to Defence Connect at the officially opening of the Ocius Technology advanced engineering, production and maintenance hub and 24/7 global operations centre in Sydney on October 16.
Earlier this month, Ocius also opened its first overseas advanced maritime maintenance facility in Auckland through its wholly owned subsidiary, Ocius New Zealand (Ocius NZ).
The Ocius NZ facility will provide onshore maintenance and technical support for the Royal New Zealand Navy’s Bluebottle uncrewed surface vessel fleet, helping to maximise their availability for persistent surveillance across New Zealand’s vast maritime domain. The Royal New Zealand Navy acquired Ocius Bluebottles in April 2025 after a seven-month trial of the platform.
“(The Bluebottles are) very capable vessels. We’re actually really happy with the performance and capability they provide us. It's an exciting future for our Navy,” according to Commander Jones.
“We get a lot of value for money out of these types of assets. Obviously Australia is our only ally, our key strategic relationship. The more we can do with Australia, the better for us in general. It makes us a stronger partner, and a stronger Navy in general.
“It means a lot (for Australian minister Pat Conroy to highlight our Bluebottle cooperation against the drug trade in the Indo-Pacific). It shows the enduring relationship we've had from the ANZACs right through to today's operating environment, doing more together. I like to think we're a consistent partner with our ally, and we contribute where we can.”
The Royal New Zealand Navy recently confirmed a four-week deployment joint operation with New Zealand Customs Service and Fijian authorities using Bluebottle USVs (USV Tahi and USV Rua) in Fiji’s Exclusive Economic Zone; At the request of the Government of Fiji.
The USVs were delivered to Nadi by a Royal New Zealand Air Force C-130J Hercules. They were then transported by road to Vuda Marina to be launched. Together, the USVs identified 137 vessels of interest that required additional scrutiny during a 24/7 surveillance of known maritime routes. Equipped with an array of high-tech surveillance, positioning and photographic systems, Tahi and Rua continuously reported their location and observations back to a monitoring centre.
The operation’s intent was ‘pattern of life’, enabling the Republic of Fiji Military Forces to develop a clearer understanding of activity across the region, including volume and patterns of maritime traffic.
The insights generated may, in the future, assist Fiji in identifying vessels that do not conform, allowing an interception, boarding and thorough search. Intelligence on suspicious vessels sourced by NZCS may also be passed to RNZN controllers in a monitoring centre. A USV could be moved to areas where vessels of interest are known to operate or where illicit cargo may be transferred.
Fiji’s Maritime Essential Services Centre in Suva is assessing the information obtained by the USVs during this operation. The USVs have now been transported back to New Zealand, ready for their next tasking.
MESC director Lemeki Lenoa says there is considerable interest in developing both crewed and uncrewed approaches to combat the importation of narcotics into Fiji.
“The ultimate goal is to ensure we have persistent presence, feeding back here into the MESC,” he said.
“Not only do the USVs help us address issues around manning, but it allows us to address the fuel crisis, because they are completely green-powered.
“We can deploy them into areas to help understand what is happening in our maritime domain, and that helps us – Navy, Customs, Fisheries, Police – develop capabilities and capacity to better respond to threats.”
The operation builds on the strong defence and security relationship between New Zealand and Fiji. The Duavata Partnership, signed by the two countries in 2022, identifies defence cooperation, maritime security, border protection, capability development and responses to transnational threats as shared priorities.
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