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 announcement that the RAN’s fleet of surface combatants would more than double is welcome; even more so is the news that the Australian defence budget will be increased to pay for them. It is gratifying that EX2 managed to…
The UK and Latvia will jointly lead a capability coalition, which will see thousands of drones supplied to Ukraine, including first-person view (FPV) drones, which have proven highly effective on the battlefield. As part of the coalition, the UK will…
The Royal Australian Navy will more than double the size of its surface combatant feet under plans released by the Australian government. The expanded fleet of more than 26 ships will also be more lethal than the RAN’s current fleet…
The Australian Government’s blueprint for the RAN’s expanded, more lethal surface combatant fleet is intended to support a sovereign continuous naval shipbuilding program and deliver direct investment in a capable, resilient and competitive defence industrial base, Defence says. An updated…
The US Department of Defense has launched five missile tracking satellites from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida. The satellites, designed and built by L3Harris Technologies, form part of the US Missile Defense Agency’s (MDA) Hypersonic and Ballistic Tracking Space Sensor…
The Department of Industry will spend $51 million funding 21 Cooperative Research Centre Projects (CRC-P), including a number that have Defence or security applications. The CRC-P program is designed to support collaboration between industry and researchers on breakthrough projects with…
Two Australian Counter-Uncrewed Aerial Systems (C-UAS) companies have been selected to participate in the third edition of the Canadian Department of National Defence’s 2024 C-UAS Sandbox exercise in May and June. This year's event is centred on detecting and defeating…
The US Navy’s Program Office Advanced Undersea Systems (PMS 394), with the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU), has selected three vendors to prototype and develop Unmanned Underwater Vehicle (UUV) platforms. Following a rigorous evaluation process, DIU has awarded prototype agreements to…
The US Army has announced it will discontinue development of the Future Attack and Reconnaissance Aircraft (FARA – essentially a very high-tech OH-58 Kiowa helicopter replacement) at the conclusion of prototyping activities later this year. It will also phase out…
Multiple media outlets have reported that General Atomics has revealed the existence of a new experimental uncrewed jet the company is developing for the US Air Force (USAF). London-based Flight Global states the company revealed the new type, which it…
