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 Navy has demonstrated a new launch and recovery concept for large unmanned undersea vehicles (UUVs). This follows a collaborative R&D effort by a U.S. Navy team from the Naval Undersea Warfare Center (NUWC) Division, Newport, and Huntington Ingalls…
Türkiye’s Bayraktar Akıncı unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) has successfully hit the target with its first air-to-surface hypersonic missile during a test launch. Türkiye is now the preferred terminology of the Turkish Republic. The TRG-230 air-to-surface hypersonic missile, developed by Türkiye’s…
The US Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division (NAWCAD) has demonstrated multiple unmanned systems in a first-of-its-kind mission to move supplies to ships at sea without the use of manned aircraft during an event at Naval Air Station Patuxent River…
Twelve Australian innovators have been shortlisted for the prestigious AVALON 2023 Innovation Awards. And in their tenth anniversary year, the cash prizes for two of the Awards have been more than doubled, to $50,000 each. The Awards are sponsored this…
New York-based L3Harris Technologies will acquire Los Angeles-based space propulsion specialist Aerojet Rocketdyne Holdings, Inc for US$4.7 billion. This marks L3Harris’ second acquisition announcement of 2022, demonstrating its continued focus on delivering critical capabilities to warfighters while strengthening the nation’s…
US firm Leidos has been awarded a US$334 million contract to assist the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) in developing an air-breathing hypersonic system. The Expendable Hypersonic Multi-mission ISR (intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance) and Strike program, known as Mayhem, will…
Brisbane-based Black Sky Aerospace (BSA) has successfully fired an Australian-first training rocket for use by Australian Defence Force (ADF) personnel as a cheaper alternative to the original missiles that can cost tens of thousands or millions of dollars apiece. The…
Emerging Australian biotech company Sementis is engaging with Health Security Systems Australia and Australian universities to enhance the ability of its existing vaccine manufacturing technology to pivot, scale and rapidly deploy in response to emerging health and biosecurity challenges. The…
L3Harris Technologies has delivered the first tranche of more than 100 T7™ Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) robots to the U.S. Air Force as part of a contract supporting the USAF’s global EOD mission. The initial four-robot delivery represents the first…
French company Exail, a specialist in underwater drone systems, has signed a contract with the Direction Générale de l'Armement (DGA - French defence procurement agency) for the rental of an A18D Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) for the French Navy. The…
