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
Australia’s national science agency, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, CSIRO, has won a $8.65 million contract from the Defence Innovation Hub to develop and commercialise world-leading Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) respirator technology. The project will deliver…
The US Navy has successfully demonstrated a mine countermeasure (MCM) prototype technology aboard the MQ-8C Fire Scout UAS at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida. The objective of the demonstration was to gather performance data for both the MQ-8C Fire Scout…
Swinburne University’s Aerostructures Innovation Research (AIR) Hub is launching AIR Pass to address a critical gap in prototype funding in Australia, especially for the aerospace industry which requires more upfront capital to meet performance and regulatory standards. AIR Pass will give startups and Small…
Australian Defence personnel will now have access to a new computer interface that allows for better informed and faster decision-making under Tranche 1 of JP2069 Phase 1. This phase focuses on the delivery of a new architecture that will provide networked…
UK company Reaction Engines has begun a new testing campaign to expand the performance envelope of its high-Mach or hypersonic enabling technology through the Foreign Comparative Testing (FCT) Program at the U.S. Department of Defense, supported by the Air Force…
US Software-as-a-Service company Antaris and Sydney-based Quasar Satellite Technologies have partnered to bring a breakthrough innovation in satellite constellation management to market. They will bring space-to-ground services through multi-beam phased array connectivity to market Under their agreement, Quasar’s digital multibeam…
A NASA Black Brant IX suborbital sounding rocket was successfully launched on the evening of July 6, 2022 from Equatorial Launch Australia’s Arnhem Space Centre (ASC) in the Northern Territory of Australia. The launch was for NASA’s Suborbital Imaging Spectrograph…
Lockheed Martin Australia (LMA) and Sydney-based Clearbox Systems have successfully completed critical ground segment software integration as part of their teaming for JP9102. LMA is bidding to deliver a sovereign, end-to-end military satellite communications (MILSATCOM) system to Defence under JP9102.…
Sydney based Saber Astronautics and innovation investment house TCG Group have officially launched the Wolfpack Space Hub’s new facility in Waterloo, Sydney. The new site will incubate local space tech companies and support Australia’s rapidly growing space industry. The new…
Saber Astronautics is holding an Australian Astronaut Program Industry Briefing on Tuesday 19 July at 1600. The company has signed a deal with US-based private spaceflight leader Axiom Space, Inc. to create an Australian presence on the International Space Station…
