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
When astronauts return to the Moon for the first time in over 50 years as part of NASA’s Artemis III mission, they will be wearing Axiom Space’s next-generation spacesuit to walk on the lunar surface. The new Axiom Extravehicular Mobility…
New startup Asia Pacific Launch aims to provide cost effective, fast, reliable, and safe access to Low Earth Orbit (LEO) with a responsive, air-dropped horizontal launch system. The company is a joint venture bringing together three countries and global firms…
British space organisation The Satellite Applications Catapult, the SmartSat Cooperative Research Centre (CRC), and the UK Government have announced a new space supply chain mapping tool to showcase UK and Australian space sector capabilities. Enabled by the Space Bridge, an…
Intellectual Property, or IP, is an important part of Defence’s capability advantage. Last week’s AUKUS announcement about Australia’s way forward on nuclear-powered submarines, and forthcoming announcements about the Defence Strategic Review and joint R&D and acquisition of advanced capabilities in…
Adelaide’s Flinders University has signed agreements with leading nuclear science and technology universities in the United Kingdom and United States, the University of Manchester and the University of Rhode Island, to help in developing the specialist skills required for the…
Defence has published an unclassified version of its heavily suppressed Review of the Defence Innovation System, also known widely as the Peever Review. However, the version released last week was so heavily redacted that it makes the Australian government a…
Queensland-based Hypersonix Launch Systems has been selected to provide hypersonic vehicles to the United States’ Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) for testing under the Hypersonic and High-Cadence Airborne Testing Capabilities (HyCAT1) program. The DIU has selected Hypersonix’s DART AE (Additive Engineering)…
Artist’s impression of the AROSE consortium lunar rover Image: AROSE The Department of Industry Science and Resources has announced Stage 1 grants for two successful Australian consortia to develop lunar rovers under the Australian Space Agency’s Moon to Mars Trailblazer…
The State Department has approved a possible Foreign Military Sale to Australia of 220 Tomahawk Block V and Block IV All Up Rounds (AUR) and related equipment for a total estimated cost of US$895 million ($1.3 billion). The Defense Security…
Australia will acquire at least three and possibly five US Virginia-class submarines, starting in the early 2030s – pending US Congressional approval; and it will build in Adelaide eight SSN-AUKUS conventionally-armed nuclear-powered submarines, based on a UK design, incorporating cutting…
