Fiji to deploy solar-powered Australian military drones at sea
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Australian company Ocius has been operating the Bluebottle fleet from a military base in Darwin in northern Australia.
PHOTO: OCIUS
- Fiji will use Australian Bluebottle solar and wind drones to patrol its waters from 2027, under a deal to fight drug trafficking and other sea crime.
- Australia will supply the drones and training as part of an A$600 million Pacific pledge, with Pat Conroy saying countries must work together on intelligence and interdiction.
- The move follows Fiji’s new maritime security strategy and intelligence review, as Pacific states struggle to police vast waters amid illegal fishing, narco subs and rising regional tensions.
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SYDNEY – Maritime drones powered by sun and wind that can stay at sea for months will patrol Fiji’s waters for drug traffickers and other threats under a deal with Australia announced on Oct 16.
Fiji approved a maritime security strategy on Oct 15 to combat transnational crime, including a surge in methamphetamine and cocaine trafficking across the Pacific.
The Bluebottle drone, manufactured in Sydney, is named after a small jellyfish with a painful sting that washes ashore on Australian beaches.
Australia’s military uses the small uncrewed boats to quietly surveil its vast northern coastline, powered by a solar mast and wind.
Australia will provide Fiji with Bluebottle drones and training, under a A$600 million (S$532.88 million) pledge made to Pacific Island countries in September to tackle organised crime at sea, officials said.
“For the good of every country in the region, including our own, we need to work together to stamp out the illicit drug trade,” Australia’s Defence Industry Minister Pat Conroy said in Sydney.
“That means working together in a coordinated way in terms of intelligence gathering, intelligence sharing and interdiction,” he added.
Fiji also announced this week it was overhauling its intelligence service, with New Zealand’s spy agency to conduct a six-month review.
Australian company Ocius has been operating the Bluebottle fleet from a military base in Darwin in northern Australia, and has opened an east coast factory in Sydney on Oct 16 as it ramps up production.
The drones earmarked for Fiji will be deployed in 2027, officials said.
Pacific Island countries with small populations have struggled to patrol millions of kilometres of Pacific Ocean to combat illegal fishing fleets from Asia and the passage of “narco subs” deployed from South America.
As China and US allies vie for influence, the strategically located region has also seen increasing visits by Chinese warships and US Coast Guard patrols. AFP