The Ocius Bluebottle uncrewed surveillance vessel has participated in Army’s Operation Resolute for the first time, conducting surveillance and reconnaissance on and around remote islands off north Western Australia for foreign fishing vessels and evidence of illegal activities.
The Ocius Bluebottle is a 6.8 metre uncrewed vessel that can carry payloads of up to 600kg. Using solar, wind and wave power, it can autonomously monitor designated areas and stay at sea for months at a time.
The Bluebottle won the Defence SME Innovation Grant as part of the Pacific 2017 International Maritime Exposition Innovation Awards.
The seventh rotation of the Australian Army Regional Force Surveillance Group (RFSG) used Bluebottles, developed by Ocius Technologies, which can provide a 24/7 on-water surveillance capability, with the flexibility to be readily manoeuvred to respond to emerging surveillance requirements or tasks.
Experience from the two-week deployment in October will likely inform future teaming with uncrewed maritime assets to support amphibious and littoral combat manoeuvres.
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