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
UK firm MGI Engineering has unveiled its SkyShark loitering munition, a next-generation military Uncrewed Aerial System (UAS) platform designed to transform battlefield operations with speed and precision, the company says. The jet-powered version of the SkyShark will be powered by a…
Australia and the United Kingdom have signed the bilateral Nuclear-Powered Submarine Partnership and Collaboration Treaty (the Geelong Treaty) at the UK-Australia Defence Ministers’ Meeting in Geelong, Victoria. The Geelong Treaty is a commitment for the next 50 years of UK-Australian bilateral…
In their 67-clause AUKMIN (Australian-UK Ministerial Consultations) Communique Australia and the UK have agreed closer Defence and Strategic cooperation. The talks, between the Australian and UK Ministers for Defence and Foreign Affairs, were held in Sydney on 25 July. All…
Defence has awarded 40 grants worth more than $17.3 million to Australian companies to deliver priority defence capabilities, support local manufacturing and strengthen Australia’s sovereign defence industry. Awarded under the $170 million Defence Industry Development Grants program, these grants will…
Defence has announced the test firing of a Precision Strike Missile (PrSM) in Australia at the Mt Bundey Training Area in the Northern Territory. PrSM is a next generation long-range missile manufactured by Lockheed Martin and has a maximum range…
Just four months after the announcement of Project LAND156, which is aimed at countering Small Uncrewed Aerial Systems (C-SUAS) Defence has issued an initial rolling wave of contracts worth $16.9 million to 11 vendors, including five Australian companies, to rapidly…
Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States have jointly tested their ability to communicate with underwater autonomous systems at Exercise Talisman Sabre 2025, as part of AUKUS Pillar II’s EX Maritime Big Play series - formerly EX Autonomous Warrior,…
The Australian Army’s contribution to the ADF’s Integrated Air and Missile Defence (IAMD) system took a step forward during Exercise Talisman Sabre 2025 when 16th Regiment’s National Advanced Surface to Air Missile System (NASAMS) fired two AIM-120 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air…
Melbourne, Florida-based L3Harris Technologies has received a US$300 million ($455 million) contract from Italy to deliver two Gulfstream G550 aircraft equipped to carry out Electromagnetic Warfare (EW), including Electronic Attack (EA). L3Harris is partnering with BAE Systems Inc. on this…
Canberra-based Lockheed Martin Australia and Geoscience Australia have successfully completed the Critical Design Review (CDR) for the Southern Positioning Augmentation Network (SouthPAN) system. The SouthPAN initiative delivers a signal augmenting GPS and Galileo over the Australasia region, improving accuracy from…
