The $176M contract, reported in March 2026, will see Ocius build 40 additional Bluebottle vessels in Australia, expanding the Commonwealth’s operational Bluebottle fleet to at least 55 – one of the largest operational fleets of maritime drones in the world. Bluebottle is an autonomous, uncrewed surface vessel powered by wind, solar, and wave energy, designed to remain at sea for months at a time conducting surveillance, reconnaissance, and communications missions across Australia’s maritime approaches.
Under the MoU, Praxis is the preferred supplier for the new vessels built under the Defence contract as well as Ocius’s existing operational fleet. This fleet has collectively travelled more than 200,000 nautical miles at sea and includes vessels currently supporting Operation Resolute from HMAS Coonawarra.
‘As a renewable energy powered vessel, we need to maximise solar energy output. Praxis has done a marvellous job at tailoring their solution to our needs to ensure the available surface area on our vessel is utilised to the maximum extent possible. Working with a sovereign Australian company is also really important to Ocius, and Praxis’ local support and supply chain supports us and our customers.’
Robert Dane, Ocius, CEO
The agreement builds on an existing relationship between the two companies. In back-to-back testing on twin Ocius vessels, Praxis panels delivered up to 35% more real-world power output than a competing panel. For a vessel designed to operate autonomously and continuously at sea, often for weeks or months at a time, with deployments of up to 184 days on record, that additional onboard power translates directly into extended range and reduced reliance on backup power.
‘This MoU is a strong validation that the same coverage and power advantage we’ve proven on the water translates directly into range and endurance for autonomous defence platforms, and we’re proud to be part of it as Ocius scales into this contract.’
Cameron Donaldson, Founder & CTO, Praxis
About Ocius Technology
Ocius is an award-winning Australian company at the forefront of persistent autonomous maritime surveillance. They design, manufacture, and operate proven, technologically advanced autonomous vessels with multi-mission capability.
Image: ThayerMahan Outpost in US deployment. Integrated on the Ocius Bluebottle sUSV platform, Outpost Acoustic Intelligence Payload delivers persistent sensing and communications for ASW and maritime domain awareness. Photo by Thayer Mahan.