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
The US State Department has approved a possible Foreign Military Sale (FMS) to Australia of the AGM-88G Advanced Anti-Radiation Guided Missiles-Extended Range (AARGM-ER) and related equipment for an estimated cost of $405 million. The Defense Security Cooperation Agency has delivered…
Lockheed Martin and Altera, an Intel Company, have completed a successful flight demonstration of the former’s 12th Generation Electronic Warfare (Gen12) transceiver utilizing Altera’s Agilex™ 9 Direct RF FPGA (Multi-Chip Package, MCP-2). The project, coined SWIFT (SHIP-enabled Wideband Transceiver Integrated Flight…
Gold Coast-based Gilmour Space has successfully completed a major ‘wet’ dress rehearsal at the Bowen Orbital Spaceport in North Queensland, marking a key milestone towards the launch of the country's first Australian-made orbital rocket later this year. During the test,…
Adelaide-based BAE Systems Australia has announced it will establish its head office in the city’s Lot Fourteen innovation district. The company, which is Australia’s biggest defence company, will move into Lot Fourteen alongside more than 160 other innovation and technology-focused…
South Australian-headquartered Equatorial Launch Australia (ELA) has signed a deal with leading French rocket company Sirius Space Services to launch orbital rockets from Australia’s Arnhem Space Centre, starting in 2026. The multi-year, multi-launch contract, announced at World Space Business Week…
South Australian spaceport provider Southern Launch and Queensland hypersonic vehicle and scramjet technology manufacturer Hypersonix Launch Systems have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to collaborate on a turnkey hypersonic test bed service. Under the MoU, Hypersonix and Southern Launch…
The three AUKUS partners have named eight companies as winners of the inaugural AUKUS Electronic Warfare Innovation Challenge. Some 173 qualified suppliers applied for the Challenge across all three nations Three Australian companies, Advanced Design Technology Pty Ltd, Inovor Technologies…
Anduril Australia has signed a contract of undisclosed value for a three-year trial with the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) to demonstrate its parent company’s Counter-Uncrewed Air Systems (C-UAS) and air and ground defence capabilities at RAAF Base Darwin. The…
The Australian Department of Defence is investing an initial $22 million in a sovereign rocket motor construction program to support its Guided Weapons and Explosive Ordnance (GWEO) program to build long-range missiles in Australia. Defence has also announced it will…
Bethesda, Maryland-based Lockheed Martin has launched an eXtreme Range (ER) variant of its AGM-158 air-launched strike weapon. The AGM-158 XR is effectively now a stand-off Cruise Missile based on existing versions of the weapon – the AGM-158 Joint Air-Surface Stand-off…
