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
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…
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…
