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
NASA has selected Boeing and its industry team to lead the development and flight testing of a full-scale Transonic Truss-Braced Wing (TTBW) demonstrator airplane. The technologies demonstrated and tested as part of the Sustainable Flight Demonstrator (SFD) program will inform…
Western Australian company Austal Limited has been awarded a time and material (T&M) contract by General Dynamics Electric Boat (GDEB) for structural assembly fabrication in support of the US Navy's nuclear-powered Virginia Class submarine program. The contract, potentially worth up…
French undersea autonomy specialist Exail took part in the US Navy’s recent Digital Horizon Unmanned & Artificial Intelligence Exercise in Bahrain. The U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet held the three-week exercise in December to test new unmanned technologies, as part of…
The Innovative Launch, Automation, Novel materials Communications and Hypersonics program, or iLAuNCH, at the University of Southern Queensland (UniSQ) has recruited former Director of the South Australia Space Industry Centre (SASIC), Darin Lovett, as Executive Director. Mr Lovett will be…
Organised by Singapore’s Ministry of Defence (MINDEF) and Enterprise Singapore, the Defence Innovation Challenge 2022 supports Singapore’s growth as a hub for the global innovation ecosystem and offers product innovation and commercialisation opportunities to innovative solution providers. Applications close 31 January –…
The NSW Quantum Computing Commercialisation Fund (QCCF) has opened for applications. This $7 million, single round, competitive technology development and commercialisation program is focused on quantum computing and funded by the NSW Government through its Future Economy Fund’s Commercialisation Pathways…
The Sydney based Defence Innovation Network (DIN) invites industry and Defence to help identify defence-relevant R&D problems. Selected problems will be discussed at the DIN’s Sandpit Workshop in March and will be used in the call for proposals via DIN’s Pilot Project grant program. Successful…
The Government of Canada has announced it will acquire the Lockheed Martin’s F-35 Lightning II aircraft as a result of the Future Fighter Capability Project competition which was launched in 2017. The contract is valued at US$14.2 billion. Canada is…
The third prototype of South Korea’s indigenous fighter, the Korean Aerospace Industries (KAI) KF-21 Boromae, has made its maiden flight. The South Korean Defence Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) announced this third prototype would be used to expand the fighter’s flight…
DroneShield Ltd has received a new purchase order worth approximately A$11 million from an undisclosed a Government agency customer. The order includes several different types of DroneShield counterdrone/C-UAS equipment. The order is expected to be delivered by mid 2023. The…
