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
US company L3Harris Technologies has launched its Centre of Excellence (COE) for Electronic Warfare (EW) in Brisbane. This facility will feature expertise in the design, manufacture, integration and sustainment of high-reliability EW technology critical for modern military operations, the company says.…
Three Australian innovators have been named winners of the Indian Ocean Defence & Security 2024 (IODS 2024) Innovation Awards, worth $40,000. They were among 15 finalists who each delivered a 3-minute pitch at Indian Ocean Defence & Security 2024, held…
The University of Western Australia’s ‘TeraNet’, a network of optical ground stations specialising in high-speed space communications, has successfully received laser signals from a German satellite in Low Earth Orbit (LEO). This breakthrough paves the way for a 1,000-fold increase…
The build of 18 Land Craft Medium (LCM) for the Australian Army’s new littoral fleet is being accelerated. The $2 billion program, Project LAND 8710, will also deliver heavy landing craft as well as amphibious vehicles. The first of the…
The Royal Australian Navy’s Hobart-class destroyer, HMAS Sydney, has conducted a successful firing of the Kongsberg Naval Strike Missile (NSM), Navy’s replacement for the ageing Harpoon weapon system. The firing was conducted during Exercise RIMPAC 2024, being hosted by the United States…
Adelaide-based Silentium Defence Pty Ltd has delivered the first tranche of five passive radar systems to Lockheed Martin Australia for Australia’s Joint Air Battle Management System (JABMS) under Project AIR6500. Passive radars do not emit radio signals so are extremely difficult…
Canberra-based Electro Optic Systems (EOS) has demonstrated its Laser Dazzler technology at Canada's Innovation for Defence Excellence and Security (IDEaS) Sandbox event. This year’s event focussed on Counter Uncrewed Aerial Systems (CUAS) and counter-drone prototypes were put to the test…
The Australian defence and space industry will manufacture a new space camera that can provide images back to Earth at high speed to aid in disaster resilience operations, land management, and defence. This multi-sensor camera for Earth observation is now…
Canberra-based Lockheed Martin Australia has rebranded its Science, Technology, Engineering Leadership and Research Laboratory (STELaRLab) in Melbourne as Advanced Systems and Technologies to better align with the mission-directed objectives and capability development needs of the Australian Defence Force. Established in…
Brisbane-based Boeing Defence Australia has signed a contract with Lockheed Martin Australia to deliver the deployed communications elements of the Australian Defence Force’s (ADF) next generation Joint Air Battle Management System (JABMS) under Project AIR6500. Drawing on the technology developed for…
