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
Three Australian innovators have been named winners of the INDO PACIFIC 2022 Innovation Awards, worth some $30,000. Their success was announced 26 April at a special online event hosted by the organiser of INDO PACIFIC 2022, AMDA Foundation Limited. The…
Adelaide-based Nova Systems will host its inaugural SME Summit for Australian owned and operated companies at Indo Pacific 2022 on Wednesday 11 May at 1000. The Summit will be held in The terrace Room at the nearby National Maritime Museum.…
A University of Adelaide-led team has secured first place in a global AI competition organised by the European Space Agency (ESA). The Satellite Pose Estimation Challenge 2021, which concluded in March, saw international teams compete to build custom AI software that…
Against the background of Russia’s attempted invasion of the Ukraine, the UK has announced it will partner with Estonia on the Defence Innovation Accelerator for the North Atlantic (DIANA) programme to maintain NATO’s technological edge. Announced by NATO Secretary General…
The UK Ministry of Defence will launch the first of a new constellation of satellites in a three-year, £22 million contract with Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd (SSTL) who will design and build the satellites. Helping to improve the UK’s ability…
Defence will spend $50 million to leverage a further $200 million investment by a consortium of two universities, the CSIRO and more than 50 industry partners in the commercialisation of Australian-developed defence technology. The Defence Trailblazer: Concept to Sovereign Capability…
Minister for Defence Peter Dutton has announced the RAN’s Collins-class submarine fleet will be fitted with new optronic masts to replace its ageing optical periscope masts under a contract worth $381 million. The new masts will not require a hull…
Melbourne-based Sentient Vision Systems has signed a multi-year contract extension with US firm AeroVironment, a global leader in intelligent, multi-domain robotic systems, to provide enhanced airborne surveillance capabilities. Sentient Vision Systems’ Kestrel Moving Target Indication (MTI) system has been part…
Melbourne-based Sentient Vision Systems has launched ViDAR Land, a system which can conduct Wide Area Surveillance on land with an extremely high probability of detecting moving man-size targets. The company has done the development work under a $5 million Defence…
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Centre (NASA GSFC) has developed a Smallsat Reference Model for Safety and Mission Assurance (SMA) using the MADe software developed by Melbourne-based PHM Technology. NASA GSFC developed the Smallsat Reference Model to increase awareness and understanding…
