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
Lockheed Martin and the US Department of War (DoW) have announced a framework agreement to accelerate the production of Precision Strike Missiles (PrSM). The agreement builds on a previous US$4.94 billion ($7.1 billion) contract award from the US Army last year…
Joint Interagency Task Force 401 (JIATF-401) has awarded Anduril Industries an US$87 million ($125 million) contract to use the company’s Lattice software as the tactical command and control solution for Counter Uncrewed Aerial Systems (C-UAS). This contract is the first…
Australia has signed a new Security and Defence Partnership with the European Union. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen announced the Australia‑European Union Security and Defence Partnership in Canberra. This, together…
US defence contract Anduril Industries says it will manufacture its YFQ-44A Fury Collaborative Combat Aircraft at the company’s new Columbus, Ohio, plant by Q2 of 2026. This will be a missionized variant of the company’s Fury autonomous fighter jet for…
Defence has launched the $15.8 million Propel: Australian Submarine Scholarship program, an initiative to offer up to 3,000 scholarships to students studying priority STEM subject at Australian universities. The Propel program is designed to support the development of Australia’s future nuclear-powered…
Connecticut-based Sikorsky has announced the successful flight testing and delivery of the US Army’s experimental UH‑60MX Black Hawk helicopter, fully integrated with the company’s MATRIX autonomy suite. The delivery of the UH-60MX aircraft, owned and operated by the Army, marks…
Canberra-based Lockheed Martin Australia and Brisbane-based Rheinmetall Defence Australia are collaborating to explore a potential Australian‑based sustainment model for Lockheed Martin’s M142 HIMARS (High Mobility Artillery Rocket System) launchers. The Australian Army has ordered 42 HiMARS wheeled launchers which will equip…
US defence contractor L3Harris Technologies has completed a major mirror refurbishment for the US Space Force’s Australian Space Surveillance Telescope (SST) at the Harold E Holt Naval Communication Station in Exmouth, Western Australia. This critical milestone ensures one of the…
Sydney-based DroneShield, has announced interoperability between its DroneSentry-C2 Command-and-Control (C2) software, and optical sensing technologies from UK firm OpenWorks Engineering. The partnership strengthens DroneShield’s ability to unify multi-domain sensor inputs within a single operational C2 environment, delivering enhanced detection, tracking, and…
California-based Skydio has announced an order exceeding $52 million for over 2,500 X10D drones, or Uncrewed Aerial Systems (UAS), from the US Army. The order is the largest Small UAS procurement from a single manufacturer in the US Army’s history…
