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 Air Force has designated the Northrop Grumman Talon Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) as the YFQ-48A. This designation conforms with the Mission Design Series (MDS) for a semi-autonomous prototype aircraft and marks a key step forward in the service’s…
Defence’s Advanced Strategic Capabilities Accelerator’s (ASCA) Emerging and Disruptive Technologies (EDT) program has signed 14 new contracts worth nearly $40 million to strengthen Decision Advantage capability across Defence domains including air, land, space, maritime and cyber. Decision Advantage is the…
Lockheed Martin has conducted a successful 112km flight test of the Alternative Warhead (AW) variant of its Extended‑Range Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System (ER GMLRS) at White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico. The rocket was launched from a High Mobility…
Lockheed Martin has completed the Block 8.1.1 upgrade for the Royal Australian Air Force's (RAAF) C-130J-30 Super Hercules fleet under Project AIR5440. This will be the final upgrade before the current fleet of 12 C-130J-30s is replaced at the end…
Canberra-based Electro Optic Systems Holdings Limited has signed a US$80 million (A$120 million) binding conditional agreement with a customer in the Republic of Korea. If the conditions are satisfied, the Contract would involve manufacture and sale of a 100kW High…
Melbourne-based Leidos Australia and its Project LAND156 partners have demonstrated a mission-ready counter-drone capability for the ADF, shooting down drones kinetically and non-kinetically and achieving a key milestone in advancing Australia’s ability to counter evolving aerial threats. The EX Southern…
Sydney-based DroneShield has received a contract worth $49.6 million from an undisclosed European reseller who is contractually required to distribute the products to another European military end-customer. The contract is for handheld counter-drone systems, associated accessories, and software updates. A…
Swedish defence manufacturer Saab has worked with Los Angeles-based Divergent Technologies to design and manufacture what Saab describes as the world's first software-defined aircraft fuselage. The 3D-printed Ruby is an Uncrewed Aerial System with a 5-7m wingspan and is powered…
The Australian Department of Defence has awarded Sydney-based CAE Australia a $300 million contract for the Future Air Mission Training System (F-AMTS), under Project AIR5428 Ph.3. The F-AMTS, which is designed to increase Defence’s aircrew training capacity by up to…
The Australian government has approved Republic of Korean company Hanwha’s long-standing application to increase its stake in Western Australian shipbuilder Austal to 19.9%. “Today I have agreed to the clear recommendation from the Foreign Investment Review Board to not object…
