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 firm Anduril has been awarded a US$19 million ($28.7 million) contract to design, build, and test second stage rocket motors for use in the US Navy’s Standard Missile-6 (SM-6) anti-air, surface, and hypersonic missile that is deployable on 60…
French company Exail has been selected to participate in the European Extended Mine Counter Measures (E=MCM) project. The objective of this consortium project, led by Naval Group Belgium, is to establish a future European sovereign capacity in mine warfare. In…
BAE Systems Inc in Nashua, New Hampshire, has received a US$95 million ($142 million) contract from the US Navy for advanced Electronic Warfare (EW) countermeasure pods to protect the P-8A Poseidon Multi-Mission Maritime Aircraft from missiles and other threats. The…
The Royal Australian Navy’s six Collins-class submarines will now not be armed with the Tomahawk strike weapon, and will also forego their planned optronics upgrade. The Government’s decisions on the life-of-type extension program have been informed by advice from Defence…
American engineering company KBR’s Iron Stallion technology now forms an integral component of the Australian Government’s space domain awareness, the company says. KBR's Australian HQ is in Adelaide. Iron Stallion is a command and control technology that is being used…
The US Air Force Armament Directorate (AFLCMC/EB) and Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) have selected four companies to build prototype Enterprise Test Vehicles (ETV), drone prototypes capable of being manufactured cheaply and in large numbers and that can also be test…
Toulouse-based Airbus Defence & Space will unveil its new Wingman concept at the International Aerospace Exhibition (ILA) in Berlin. The Wingman will be a fighter-type Uncrewed Air System (UAS) commanded by a pilot in a current combat aircraft such as…
Defence industry journal Australian Defence Magazine reports that an unspecified Special Operations Unit of the Australian Army will put the Australian Defence Force’s (ADF) first loitering munition - the Innovaero OWL - into service later this year. The magazine’s report…
Nashua, New Hampshire-based BAE Systems Inc. has been selected by the US Navy to develop the Dual Band Decoy (DBD) in a contract worth a reported US$54 million ($80 million) that was awarded last year. The DBD is a Radio…
US Navy submarine tender USS Emory S. Land (AS-39) arrived in Darwin for a scheduled port call on May 28. Darwin is the first port call of the ship’s current deployment, which began May 17 "We already have a number…
