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 Government’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has awarded a contract of undisclosed value to US company SpaceLink, a subsidiary of Canberra-based Electro-Optic Systems (EOS), to participate in the Space Based Adaptive Communications Node – Space (Space-BACN) program.…
The Defence Innovation Hub has awarded Adelaide-based Asension a $4.35 million contract to deliver a space-based tactical sensor system, MOESS or Miniaturised Orbital Electronic Warfare Sensor System, for use by Defence. This contract represents Phase 3 of the project and…
Lockheed Martin Australia has partnered with the University of Newcastle to deliver 10 Science and Engineering Challenge events across Newcastle, Canberra and Adelaide to boost Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) participation in urban and regional communities. The Science and…
A hypersonic missile cruise missile co-developed by Raytheon Missiles & Defense and Northrop Grumman has passed its second flight test in a row. It dropped from an aircraft and accelerated beyond Mach 5, confirming the industry team’s digital design and computer model…
The Navy’s MQ-8C Fire Scout recently supported an Expeditionary Advanced Base Operations (EABO) exercise off the coast of California, demonstrating its capability to transition from ship-to-shore in a maritime environment. The MQ-8C Fire Scout participated in the Resolute Hunter exercise June…
Defence has opened its advanced supercomputing capability at the DSTG site at the Edinburgh Defence Precinct in South Australia. Defence’s supercomputing capability will play a vital role in the design, development and analysis of sovereign weapon systems and national security…
Australia’s sovereign defence company ASC is opening a new science and technology hub in Adelaide’s city centre at Lot Fourteen, to form new research and business connections that can enhance Collins-class submarine sustainment and their Life of Type Extension (LOTE).…
To kick off National Science Week, Minister for Defence Personnel, the Hon Matt Keogh MP met some freshly minted Defence scientists who joined Defence through the NAVIGATE program, a pioneering Defence recruitment initiative that is working to strengthen and diversify…
Army has unveiled an ‘electric Bushmaster’ the electric Protected Military Vehicle (ePMV). The conversion was undertaken by NSW company 3ME technology who fitted a standard Bushmaster with a proprietary battery system and 375kW dual-drive motor in place of its existing…
SpaceLink, the Washington DC-based subsidiary of Australian company Electro Optic Systems Holdings, has signed a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) with the US Army Space and Missile Defense Command Technical Center (USASMDC-TC) at Redstone Arsenal, Alabama. Under the agreement…
