Ocius christens three new unmanned vessels

Uncrewed surface vessel (USV) manufacturer Ocius has christened the last of five USV’s it is building under a $3 million Defence innovation contract.

The Bluey, Brizo and Beacon were christened at the company’s factory on the UNSW Randwick Campus.

Attending the ceremony were RADM Pete Quinn, Senator Holly Hughes standing in for Hon Melissa Price and Ulladulla shareholder Michelle Moulos who christened the boats.

In June the 18 foot Bluebottle prototype successfully identified and navigated around surface vessels such as speed boats in trials off the NSW coast, and maintained speed in various sea conditions.

Bluebottle is normally powered by the waves which operate an underwater ‘flipper’, though the boat is equipped with a back up propeller.

When deployed, the patented hard solar sail harnesses both solar and wind energy. When not desired it automatically folds into the deck of the Bluebottle.

The USVs can be equipped for anti-submarine warfare (ASW) and surveillance missions.

The system incorporates a Thales Remote Active Sonar Systems (RASS) array, consisting of towed active and passive sonar sub systems, as well as data processing integrated onto the Ocius autonomous platform

Picture: Bluey with engineers Tom Grimes, George Richardson and Harry Hall

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