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
Applications are open for the 2025 Defence Trailblazer Entrepreneurial Foundations for Defence program, closing 30 April 2025. Designed to support researchers, innovators and emerging companies with products, services or technology that can provide a capability benefit to the Defence sector, the…
The UK Ministry of Defence’s Hypersonic Weapons Program has successfully completed a major propulsion system test program at NASA’s Langley Research Center in the USA. The propulsion system under development is set to power a cutting-edge hypersonic cruise missile concept,…
On behalf of the Australian Submarine Agency (ASA), Australia’s submarine company, ASC, is working with US industry partners to uplift Australian businesses into the AUKUS supply chain. Through the Defence Industry Vendor Qualification (DIVQ) Program, ASC, General Dynamics Electric Boat…
Anduril Industries has announced Copperhead, which it describes as a high-speed, software-defined family of Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUV) built for delivery by larger autonomous systems. Or torpedoes, to use an older expression. Victory at sea will require large fleets of…
The UK’s Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) and Australia’s Defence Science and Technology Group (DSTG) have will jointly develop next-generation sub-systems for low-cost weapons systems, bringing together cutting-edge technologies from both nations, according to a UK Ministry of Defence…
US defence prime contractor Northrop Grumman Corporation has been selected by the RAAF to provide the AN/ALQ-251 advanced radio frequency countermeasures system for its C-130J-30 Hercules airlifter fleet. The digital AN/ALQ-251 provides robust protection against advanced weapon systems and agile…
Sydney based Thales Australia’s BlueSentry thin-line towed sonar array has been successfully integrated into Californian company Saildrone’s Surveyor-class Uncrewed Surface Vehicle (USV), demonstrating exceptional operational performance, according to Thales Australia, during a 26-day continuous mission conducted off the United States.…
Californian company Anduril Industries has launched Seabed Sentry, an AI-enabled, mobile, undersea network of sensor nodes linked by undisclosed means for persistent monitoring and real time communication. Seabed Sentry uses Artificial Intelligence (AI) to provide highly accurate, persistent autonomous awareness…
The United States Space Force (USSF) has awarded US prime contractor Northrop Grumman Corporation two national security contracts of undisclosed value, including one for a technology demonstration for in-space refuelling. US Space Systems Command (SSC) awarded the company a contract…
Building on the MoU they signed at the 2024 MilCIS conference in Canberra, Sydney based GME, Geelong-based Hanwha Defence Australia (HDA) and Seoul-based Hanwha Systems signed a teaming agreement at the Avalon Air Show 2025. The three companies have agreed…
