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
Adelaide-based Fleet Space, Australia’s only commercial small satellite manufacturer, has partnered with Sydney 3D printer Konica Minolta to bring satellite and antenna manufacturing back onshore. The Konica Minolta printer will enable Fleet Space to manufacture small satellites at scale for…
Adelaide-based passive surveillance specialist Silentium Defence is designing and testing a range of cutting-edge technologies that can be incorporated into Lockheed Martin Australia’s future Joint Air Battle Management solution for the Royal Australian Air Force’s Project AIR6500 Ph.1 (AIR6500-1). As…
The New South Wales government will deliver the single largest investment in scientific research, innovation and technological development in the state’s history, investing $832.7 million over four years under the 2022-23 NSW Budget. Beneficiaries will include the State's burgeoning defence and…
Australia’s leading research supercomputing facility, the Pawsey Supercomputing Research Centre in Perth, WA, has installed the world’s first room-temperature diamond-based quantum computer on-site. Developed by German-Australian start-up Quantum Brilliance, the rack-mounted diamond quantum “accelerator” leverages synthetic diamonds to run at…
The Royal Australian Navy is positioning itself to embrace uncrewed systems, with attendant Artificial Intelligence (AI) challenges, right across the board from mine warfare and undersea surveillance to long range Intelligence Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) for surface ships. While the…
Equatorial Launch Australia (ELA), the developer, owner and operator of the Arnhem Space Centre (ASC) on the Gove Peninsula in Australia’s Northern Territory, has successfully completed Australia’s first commercial space launch with NASA. The launch took place at 12:00am (ACST)…
The US Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) has awarded BAE Systems a US$7.8 million contract to develop tightly integrated machine learning software as part of the Multi-Sensor Exploitation for Tactical Autonomy (META) program. This technology will enable advanced situational awareness…
Round 6 of the Defence Innovation Partnership's (DIP) Collaborative Research Fund will open on 11 July 2022, offering up to $150,000 to support collaboration for defence-relevant research and development. The Fund aims to support genuine collaboration across government, universities and…
Researchers at the University of Sydney have secured an $830,000 investment from Melbourne-based DMTC Limited and the Defence Science and Technology Group (DSTG), to lead a collaboration to enhance atmospheric transport and dispersion modelling and simulation tools used to predict…
South Australian companies Consilium Technology and elmTEK have joined forces to form a new group focussing on AI and sensor technologies, servicing the defence, agriculture and mining sectors. The new group, which will announce its new name and brand soon,…
