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 three members of the tripartite AUKUS partnership, the US, UK and Australia, are considering cooperation with Japan on advanced capabilities projects. The AUKUS agreement explicitly allows such cooperation. An aim of AUKUS is identifying the optimal pathway for Australia…
US defence prime contractor Northrop Grumman Corporation has completed assembly of its Manta Ray full-scale Uncrewed Underwater Vehicle (UUV) prototype. It was built through a Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) program started in 2020 and aimed at advancing key…
San Diego-based Shield AI, Inc. will acquire Melbourne AI company Sentient Vision Systems, a leader in AI-enabled real-time situational awareness, pending customary closing conditions and regulatory approval. The companies will merge AI expertise and operational understanding to deliver superior Intelligence…
The South Australian Space Industry Centre, in collaboration with the Defence Innovation Partnership, has launched a new grant fund to support the development of innovative space capability. Two grants of up to $100,000 will be available for the first round…
A program set up by the United Kingdom’s Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) and supported by scientists from Australia’s Defence Science and Technology Group (DSTG) aims to address the challenge of secure underwater communications. In the underwater domain radio…
San Diego-based Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. has successfully demonstrated the ability of its XQ-58A Valkyrie Uncrewed Air Vehicle (UAV) to fly in concert with two F-35 aircraft. They have also demonstrated the ability to deliver an integrated electronic…
The US Navy in partnership with Lockheed Martin has successfully conducted a Long-Range Anti-Ship Missile (LRASM) flight test with four missiles simultaneously in flight. During the 12th Integrated Test Event (ITE-12), the US Navy was able to demonstrate the weapon’s inherent…
The UK Ministry of Defence’s Strategic Command unveiled the Defence Experimentation and Wargaming Hub at Southwick Park, near Portsmouth. The facility, developed in partnership with the Defence Science Technology Laboratory (Dstl), will be the centre for experimentation and wargaming in…
Canberra-based Electro Optic Systems (EOS) and the Australian Army’s Robotic and Autonomous Systems Implementation & Coordination Office (RICO) have successfully demonstrated the advanced long-range firing capabilities and precision of EOS' R400 remote weapon system (RWS). From EOS’ high-tech facility in…
San Diego-based Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. and Shield AI, Inc have announced the successful completion of the first phase of Shield’s AI-piloted flight-testing on-board the Kratos family of UAS as the two companies move toward productizing Shield AI’s…
