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
Adelaide-based Babcock Australasia and Perth-based Franmarine will deliver critical underwater sustainment and biofouling management services for the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) under a new $10m contract. Since 2018, the two companies have delivered biofouling management capability to the RAN to…
Three Royal Australian Navy officers will be assigned to US Virginia class submarines based at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii after graduating from their submarine training in Groton, Connecticut. Lieutenant Commander James Heydon, Lieutenant Commander Adam Klyne and Lieutenant William Hall…
The US Air Force has flown a manned F-16 fighter against an uncrewed one, the X-62A VISTA, in a series of dogfights at Edwards Air Force Base. This is a world first and an important step towards fielding a so-called…
The US Marine Corps has selected the latest version of the AeroVironment Switchblade 300 for the first phase of its Organic Precision Fires-Light (OPF-L) program. Washington DC-based AeroVironment’s (AV’s) Switchblade 300 Block 20 loitering munition system (LMS) will provide the…
The Australian Department of Defence has unveiled its first Ghost Shark Extra Large Autonomous Underwater Vessel (XL-AUV), ahead of schedule and on budget. Ghost Shark will provide the Royal Australian Navy with a stealthy, long-range autonomous undersea warfare capability that can…
Groton, Connecticut-based maritime technology firm ThayerMahan, Inc. has signed a collaboration agreement with Sydney-based autonomous uncrewed vessel developer Ocius Technology Ltd. The partners will demonstrate a powerful new capability at the AUVSI XPONENTIAL event 23 to 25 April off San…
Eight Small to Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) delivering priority capabilities for Defence have collectively been awarded $3.47 million in Defence Global Competitiveness and Sovereign Industrial Capability Priority grants. The two grant programs are designed to help Australian businesses boost manufacturing, harness…
Huntsville, Alabama-based EOS Defense Systems USA (EOS) demonstrated its Counter-UAS (C-UAS) direct fire capabilities during the US Army’s Project Convergence Capstone 4 (PC-C4) last month at the Army's National Training Center in Fort Irwin, California. The company is a subsidiary…
The UK's Department for Business and Trade (DBT) is launching the department’s first global tech awards, the Unicorn Kingdom: Pathfinder Awards (UKPA), to unearth and showcase the most promising scale up companies in the tech industry, globally. Applications close on 30 April The…
HD Hyundai Heavy Industries, the world’s largest commercial and military shipbuilder, and Anduril Industries have agreed to a strategic partnership to reimagine and rebuild naval power for the United States, the Republic of Korea, and their allies and partners. With…
