Helsing to Acquire Australian AUV Specialist Blue Ocean

German defense technology company Helsing has started a process of acquiring Blue Ocean, an Australian-based ocean technology company that designs, develops, and operates autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs).

The acquisition will integrate Blue Ocean’s hardware and manufacturing capabilities with Helsing’s Artificial Intelligence (AI), integrating Blue Ocean’s team and operations into Helsing, with operations continuing in the UK and Australia.

Together, Helsing and Blue Ocean aim to accelerate the development and mass production of autonomous platforms for the protection of the underwater battlespace, providing allies with a crucial technological advantage in the maritime domain.

The strategic acquisition of Blue Ocean will speed up Helsing's plans for AI-powered autonomous systems further.

It follows the launch of its autonomous underwater glider, the SG-1 Fathom, earlier in the year, and its successful testing at BUTEC, an underwater military test range, in July.

"The need for a smart autonomous mass-approach is clear, and together with Blue Ocean we can build an autonomous glider that provides a big leap forward to conduct underwater ISR for navies.

“Blue Ocean has been a key partner for us over the last 12 months and as we seek to significantly strengthen our maritime offer to Europe and AUKUS it makes sense for us to join forces. Together we can offer customers a unique blend of domain expertise, rapid innovation and advanced technology,” said Amelia Gould, General Manager, Maritime at Helsing.

“Since first meeting Helsing we have forged a strong working relationship bringing together our Autonomous Underwater Vehicle technology with Helsing’s impressive Edge AI processing to create a highly effective anti-submarine warfare and wide area surveillance capability. These are critical to compilation of the modern common operating picture and providing border and asset protection,” added Mike Deeks, Group Managing Director at Blue Ocean.

The acquisition will occur by means of a members’ scheme of arrangement under Australian law and is subject to court, regulatory and shareholder approval.