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
More than $3.2 million in Defence Global Competitiveness and Sovereign Industrial Capability Priority grants have been awarded to six Australian SMEs that are supporting the manufacturing of defence capabilities. The grant programs provide 50 per cent matching grants to assist…
The Australian Government’s $15 billion National Reconstruction Fund (NRF) will be established in law after the National Reconstruction Fund Corporation Bill was approved by the country’s Senate. The NRF was first announced in the Interim Budget on 25 October 2022.…
Airbus Defence and Space and its wholly-owned subsidiary, Airbus UpNext, have achieved in-flight autonomous guidance and control of an Uncrewed Aerial System (UAS) using an A310 MRTT. In a first step towards Autonomous Formation Flight and Autonomous Air-to-Air refuelling (A4R), the technologies…
Rare Earth Minerals. Image: American Geosciences Institute Applications for the second round of Australia’s Economic Accelerator (AEA) Seed Grants are now open. Entries close on 5 May 2023. This program provides funding of between $50,000 and $500,000 per project to…
The US Air Force has awarded Raytheon Technologies a US$320 million (AUD$478 million) contract to produce and deliver 1,500 GBU-53B StormBreaker® smart weapons – formerly known as the Small Diameter Bomb. The air-launched StormBreaker is a network enabled glide bomb…
The US Army’s Aviation and Missile Center has selected Lockheed Martin to develop an advanced propulsion Long Range Maneuverable Fires (LRMF) missile. The missile can be fired from existing Army launchers, including the M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, HiMARS,…
Artist's impression of Skykraft ATM satellites in orbit. Image: Skykraft The Defence Aviation Safety Authority (DASA) and the Australian Space Agency (ASA) are developing a common approach to the safety regulation of Australian space activities. This was facilitated by the…
US companies Boeing and Shield AI have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to explore strategic collaboration in the areas of autonomous capabilities and artificial intelligence on current and future defence programs. The agreement, signed at the Air Force Association Warfare…
Boston-based Regent, a pioneer in electric seaglider manufacturing, has received a strategic investment from Lockheed Martin Ventures, the venture arm of Lockheed Martin, to expedite the development of seagliders for defence missions. Regent seagliders are a new category of maritime…
To help future developers of commercial satellite constellations plan missions and operate their systems, Lockheed Martin is offering commercial licenses to its proven Horizon™ Command & Control (C2) and Compass™ Mission Planning software. Horizon and Compass leverage an integrated and…
