{"id":"1adb2042-b8e4-4d96-aaa4-d160152bbad5","companyId":"f856d797-c641-40c1-b774-4f7e7de2d611","modelName":"Bluebottle","slug":"ocius-bluebottle","description":"Ocius Technology (Sydney, New South Wales; founder and chief executive Robert Dane, evolved from his earlier Solar Sailor venture and renamed Ocius in 2014) makes the Bluebottle, a wind-, solar-, and wave-powered persistent autonomous surface vessel, recorded in the maritime form factor. The Bluebottle harvests energy three ways, through a patented hard solar sail combining wind and solar, crystalline-silicon solar panels, and rudder-mounted wave oscillators for passive propulsion, giving it average missions of about 75 days and a longest deployment of 184 days. The registry records it at commercial maturity: a A$176 million, 40-vessel, five-year Royal Australian Navy program of record announced on March 11, 2026 expands the RAN fleet from 15 to 55 vessels with deliveries from early 2026, and Ocius has operated Bluebottles around the clock from HMAS Coonawarra in Darwin for the border-security Operation Resolute since July 1, 2024 with 15 vessels already delivered. Its editorial throughline is the persistent-presence-via-energy-harvesting hardware archetype, with theoretically indefinite endurance and vessels sold outright to the RAN and US primes, distinct from Saildrone's captive data-as-a-service and Saronic's US new-defense procurement. Several cap-flags and corrections apply: the A$176 million figure's ceiling-versus-obligated split is undisclosed in all sources including the primary government release, so it is recorded as a government-reported headline value; the US Navy relationship is indirect through the prime ThayerMahan, which bought two Bluebottles for A$2.4 million and ran the US Navy anti-submarine-warfare demonstrations rather than a direct US Navy procurement; a NOAA customer relationship could not be verified and is dropped; and Ocius's funding is not verifiable with no institutional round, while its founding year and hull length conflict across sources.","formFactor":"maritime","maturityStage":"commercial","lifecycleState":"active","supersededByModelId":null,"specs":{"notes":[{"label":"Verified","value":"Ocius Technology (Sydney; founder/CEO Robert Dane) makes the Bluebottle, a wind+solar+wave-powered PERSISTENT surface USV. A$176M / 40-vessel / 5-year RAN program of record announced 11 Mar 2026 (expanding the RAN fleet 15->55; deliveries from early 2026). Operating from HMAS Coonawarra (Darwin) for Operation Resolute (border security) since 1 Jul 2024; 15 vessels already delivered. maturity=commercial (named-program contract + fielded systems in active government ops)."},{"label":"Editorial throughline (persistent-presence archetype)","value":"Ocius is the PERSISTENT-PRESENCE-via-energy-harvesting HARDWARE archetype - theoretically indefinite endurance, ships vessels OUTRIGHT to the RAN + US primes. Distinct from Saildrone (captive data-as-a-service) and Saronic (US new-defense procurement-sale)."},{"label":"CAP-FLAGS / corrections","value":"(1) The A$176M ceiling-vs-OBLIGATED split is UNDISCLOSED in ALL sources (incl. the primary government release) - record as government-reported headline value, not obligated. (2) The 'US Navy customer' is INDIRECT via ThayerMahan (Ocius sold 2 Bluebottles A$2.4M; ThayerMahan ran the US Navy ASW demos) - NOT a direct US Navy procurement. (3) NOAA as a customer could NOT be verified - DROPPED. (4) Funding/valuation not verifiable (no institutional round); founding year (1997 vs 1999) + hull length (6.8 vs 7.4m) conflict - cap-flag."}],"specs":"Bluebottle: single-hull ~6.8-7.4m USV with THREE energy-harvesting systems (patented hard 'solar sail' wind+solar; crystalline-silicon solar; rudder-mounted wave oscillators for passive wave propulsion). ~150 W payload power, up to ~300 kg payload, ~2 kn speed of advance. Verified endurance: ~75-day average missions, longest 184 days. Founder Robert Dane; Sydney NSW (from Solar Sailor, renamed Ocius 2014). Hardware-sale model.","formFactor":"maritime (autonomous SURFACE vessel / USV; wind+solar+wave energy-harvesting; persistent presence)"},"manufacturerSerial":null,"reviewStatus":"reviewed","sources":[{"url":"https://www.minister.defence.gov.au/media-releases/2026-03-11/albanese-government-invests-176-million-new-fleet-australian-made-uncrewed-vessels","title":"Australia invests A$176M in 40 Australian-made Bluebottle USVs (11 Mar 2026; RAN fleet 15->55)","sourceName":"Australian Defence Minister"},{"url":"https://www.navalnews.com/naval-news/2026/03/australia-orders-fleet-of-40-bluebottle-uncrewed-surface-vessels/","title":"Australia orders 40 Bluebottle USVs (5-year program; expand fleet to 55)","sourceName":"Naval News"},{"url":"https://www.ocius.com.au/blog/2024july19_pressrelease/","title":"Ocius operates Bluebottles from HMAS Coonawarra for Operation Resolute since 1 Jul 2024","sourceName":"Ocius (official)"},{"url":"https://www.australiandefence.com.au/news/news/ocius-sells-two-bluebottles-to-the-us-delivers-additional-vessel-to-navy","title":"Ocius sells 2 Bluebottles to US prime ThayerMahan (A$2.4M; US Navy ASW demos)","sourceName":"Australian Defence Magazine"}],"aliases":["Ocius Bluebottle","Bluebottle USV"],"collisionRisk":"low","reviewNote":null,"manufacturerTermForTeleop":null,"createdAt":"2026-06-03T23:01:40.378Z","updatedAt":"2026-06-03T23:01:40.378Z","jsonLd":{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Product","@id":"https://registry.deploy.report/models/ocius-bluebottle","url":"https://registry.deploy.report/models/ocius-bluebottle","name":"Bluebottle","alternateName":["Ocius Bluebottle","Bluebottle USV"],"description":"Ocius Technology (Sydney, New South Wales; founder and chief executive Robert Dane, evolved from his earlier Solar Sailor venture and renamed Ocius in 2014) makes the Bluebottle, a wind-, solar-, and wave-powered persistent autonomous surface vessel, recorded in the maritime form factor. The Bluebottle harvests energy three ways, through a patented hard solar sail combining wind and solar, crystalline-silicon solar panels, and rudder-mounted wave oscillators for passive propulsion, giving it average missions of about 75 days and a longest deployment of 184 days. The registry records it at commercial maturity: a A$176 million, 40-vessel, five-year Royal Australian Navy program of record announced on March 11, 2026 expands the RAN fleet from 15 to 55 vessels with deliveries from early 2026, and Ocius has operated Bluebottles around the clock from HMAS Coonawarra in Darwin for the border-security Operation Resolute since July 1, 2024 with 15 vessels already delivered. Its editorial throughline is the persistent-presence-via-energy-harvesting hardware archetype, with theoretically indefinite endurance and vessels sold outright to the RAN and US primes, distinct from Saildrone's captive data-as-a-service and Saronic's US new-defense procurement. Several cap-flags and corrections apply: the A$176 million figure's ceiling-versus-obligated split is undisclosed in all sources including the primary government release, so it is recorded as a government-reported headline value; the US Navy relationship is indirect through the prime ThayerMahan, which bought two Bluebottles for A$2.4 million and ran the US Navy anti-submarine-warfare demonstrations rather than a direct US Navy procurement; a NOAA customer relationship could not be verified and is dropped; and Ocius's funding is not verifiable with no institutional round, while its founding year and hull length conflict across sources.","identifier":"1adb2042-b8e4-4d96-aaa4-d160152bbad5","category":"maritime","publisher":{"@id":"https://deploy.report/#organization"}}}