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
Applications are now open for round 24 of the Cooperative Research Centres (CRC) grants. As part of this successful, long-running program, businesses and researchers work together to find sustainable solutions for Australia's economic, environmental and social challenges. CRCs are expected…
Entries are now open to aspiring astronauts to be part of the 2023 Endeavour Scholarship Mission Team # 10 - TEAM AUSTRALIA at Space Camp in Huntsville, Alabama, USA. Entries close Sunday 10 March. Four young Australians aged 15-18 will…
Adelaide-based AML3D Limited has won a $1millipn contract from the US Navy to supply a large-scale, industrial ARCEMY ‘X-Edition 6700’ Wire Arc Additive Manufacturing metal 3D printing system. This will support the US Navy’s accelerating adoption of Wire Arc additive manufacturing…
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), Air Force Research Lab (AFRL), Lockheed Martin and Aerojet Rocketdyne team have successfully completed a second Hypersonic Air-breathing Weapon Concept (HAWC) flight test, doubling the amount of scramjet powered vehicle data. Launching from a…
The first Lockheed Martin LM 400, a flexible, mid-sized satellite customizable for military, civil or commercial users, has rolled off the company’s digital factory production line and is advancing toward its planned 2023 launch. The agile LM400 spacecraft bus design,…
LeoLabs, a leading commercial provider of Low Earth Orbit (LEO) mapping and Space Situational Awareness (SSA) services, has commissioned its West Australian Space Radar (WASR). The WASR site at Collie, near Bunbury in WA, hosts two S-band active phased array…
Sydney-based Quickstep Holdings Ltd’s Aerostructures business has secured a contract award from Dronamics for the production and supply of their Black Swan unmanned cargo aircraft. The anticipated value of the firm contract requirement is likely to be in the range…
Saber Astronautics has announced the first set of projects selected for development at the International Space Station (ISS). Saber’s Australian Astronaut Program, announced last July, aims to bring Australian-industry and researchers into the spaceflight community and benefit from the trillion…
Northrop Grumman Corporation, AT&T and Fujitsu have demonstrated 5G-enabled intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities in Northrop Grumman’s new 5G lab. The demonstration integrated radios with Northrop Grumman’s tactical data links, AT&T’s private 5G network and Fujitsu’s Open Radio Access…
Northrop Grumman Corporation's Long Duration Propulsive ESPA (LDPE)-3A spacecraft has launched successfully into near-geostationary orbit in support of the US Space Force’s USSF-67 mission. This spacecraft helps advance rapid access to space for the US Space Force and marks the…
