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
The US Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) and Anduril Industries have demonstrated modularity on a weapon moving into large-scale production. Following rigorous independent testing by the Munition Open Architecture Test and Evaluation Laboratory (MOATEL), AFRL has verified that Anduril’s Barracuda-M…
The US Army has awarded Lockheed Martin an indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contract worth up to US$1.2 billion ($1.71 billion) to produce Increment 2 of the Precision Strike Missile (PrSM), after a second flight test demonstrated the missile's ability to…
The US government has announced Arsenal-2, a new software-defined shipyard backed by a US$3.7 billion ($5.3 billion) private capital investment by Anduril Industries. Arsenal-2 will be built in a 2 million square foot facility at Tradepoint Atlantic in Baltimore County,…
Melbourne-based Arkeus has won a contract of undisclosed value from the Australian Army to supply its Warden Hyper Spectral Optical Radar, or HSOR, for use on the Army’s Insitu Integrator Tactical Uncrewed Aerial System. Warden is the world’s first, real-time,…
Defence has awarded a $12.5 million, three-year Capability Life Cycle Manager contract to Kellogg Brown & Root Pty Ltd for its Diving, Autonomous and Signatures System Program Office (DASSPO) portfolio. The CLCM model is designed to provide Defence with an…
Lockheed Martin has signed a framework agreement with the US Department of War to rapidly accelerate the production and delivery of the AIM-260 Joint Advanced Tactical Missile (JATM). The company says JATM is designed to be capable of deterring and…
The Australian Government has awarded Lockheed Martin Australia a $1.32 billion contract for Tranche 2B of Project AIR6500. This is a sovereign, high-tech Joint Air Battle Management System (JABMS) that integrates Australia’s air and missile defence capabilities across all-domains into…
Queensland-based aerospace companies Gilmour Space Technologies and Hypersonix Launch Systems have signed an agreement to develop hypersonic flight-test options for defence and commercial programs in Australia and overseas. The partnership brings together Gilmour Space's rocket propulsion, launch, mission integration and…
Melbourne-based Arkeus, a leader in wide-area Hyperspectral Autonomous Perception systems, has announced an expanded strategic partnership with British company Tanglewood Group Ltd. and the establishment of a joint manufacturing, engineering and customer support capability in Malvern, United Kingdom. Earlier this…
The US Navy has disclosed it is developing the Air Intercept Missile (AIM)-424 Malice Long Range Air to Air Missile (LRAAM), a next-generation missile intended, says the USN, to strengthen fleet defence and maintain a decisive air domain overmatch against…
