Innovation and R&D have always been the essential foundations of a strong, sustainable defence industry. Australia’s 2016 Defence White Paper, Defence Industry Policy Statement (DIPS) and Defence Integrated Investment Program (DIIP) acknowledge the importance of successful Defence R&D and innovation to the nation’s defence industry and thus to Australian defence policy. The 2020 Defence Force Structure Plan reinforced these foundations.
EX2 was set up by Dr Gregor Ferguson, a defence industry and innovation analyst and consultant, to make a useful contribution in Australia’s new and welcoming defence business environment.
EX2 helps innovators in Defence, the research sector and industry, and especially SMEs, by providing news and insight about innovation in Defence and adjacent sectors such as space, aerospace and resources.
Gregor Ferguson writes, teaches, advises and runs a national program designed to encourage and reward innovators in the defence, aerospace and maritime domains in both industry and the research and academic communities.
View his bio here (PDF opens in new window).
Dr Gregor Ferguson, Ph.D, BA (Hons), MRAeS
Canberra-based Electro Optic Systems Holdings Limited, EOS, has announced an agreement to acquire the UK-based MARSS group business for US$36 million ($54 million); subject to customer, regulator and other approvals the sale should be completed this year. MARSS is a…
Northrop Grumman has won a contract of undisclosed value to develop a Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) from the US Marine Corps’ Marine Air-Ground Task Force Uncrewed Expeditionary Tactical Aircraft (MUX TACAIR). This award, the company says, combines Northrop Grumman’s uncrewed…
French AI and Mine Countermeasures (MCM) specialist Exail has announced a €40 million ($70 million) order from the NATO Support and Procurement Agency (NSPA). for several hundred additional K-Ster mine neutralization vehicles. This order is part of the framework agreement…
At the end of 2025 Sydney-based DroneShield announced it had won two export contracts worth $14.4 million to deliver situational awareness and handheld counter Uncrewed Aerial Systems (C-UAS) to customers in Europe and the Asia-Pacific. The European contract, worth $8.2…
Adelaide-based BAE Systems Australia has sold its stake in Perth-based aerospace company Innovaero Pty Ltd to previous owner Aerovation Pty Limited for an undisclosed sum. Innovaero says this transition to full Australian ownership marks a significant milestone in establishing a sovereign…
The US Air Force has designated the Northrop Grumman Talon Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) as the YFQ-48A. This designation conforms with the Mission Design Series (MDS) for a semi-autonomous prototype aircraft and marks a key step forward in the service’s…
Defence’s Advanced Strategic Capabilities Accelerator’s (ASCA) Emerging and Disruptive Technologies (EDT) program has signed 14 new contracts worth nearly $40 million to strengthen Decision Advantage capability across Defence domains including air, land, space, maritime and cyber. Decision Advantage is the…
Lockheed Martin has conducted a successful 112km flight test of the Alternative Warhead (AW) variant of its Extended‑Range Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System (ER GMLRS) at White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico. The rocket was launched from a High Mobility…
Lockheed Martin has completed the Block 8.1.1 upgrade for the Royal Australian Air Force's (RAAF) C-130J-30 Super Hercules fleet under Project AIR5440. This will be the final upgrade before the current fleet of 12 C-130J-30s is replaced at the end…
Canberra-based Electro Optic Systems Holdings Limited has signed a US$80 million (A$120 million) binding conditional agreement with a customer in the Republic of Korea. If the conditions are satisfied, the Contract would involve manufacture and sale of a 100kW High…
