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
Defence has selected 11 Australian companies to manufacture drone, or Uncrewed Aerial System (UAV), prototypes in contracts worth a total of $1.21 million. The eleven companies will each provide a prototype of a UAS for demonstration in April along with…
French company Exail, which is one of two shortlisted for the RAN’s autonomous mine hunting program, SEA1905, has signed a strategic technology partnership with Aurizn, an Australian company specialising in simulation and Artificial Intelligence (AI). The partnership’s focus includes the…
Equatorial Launch Australia has completed the engineering design process for the Horizontal Integration Facilities (HIF) at its Arnhem Space Centre’s Space Launch Complex (SLC). These are assembly, integration and testing facilities for each of up to seven rocket launch companies to be based…
San Francisco-based LeoLabs has received a Consolidated Pathfinder order from the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Office of Space Commerce (OSC) for the development of the civil-led, national Traffic Coordination System for Space (TraCSS). Through this contract, OSC…
Washington DC-based Airbus U.S. Space & Defense, Inc. will purchase Eutelsat OneWeb’s 50% share of the Airbus OneWeb Satellites (AOS) joint venture. Airbus is now the sole owner of AOS and the satellite manufacturing facility in Merritt Island, Florida. The new…
Six projects have received a total of nearly $900,000 in funding for the seventh round of the Adelaide-based Defence Innovation Partnership’s Collaborative Research Fund (CRF). Defence SA’s Acting Chief Executive Reg Carruthers said the calibre of applications is continuing to…
Canberra-based Electro Optic Systems Holdings has won a $15 million contract to supply Slinger counter-drone systems to Diehl Defence in Germany. The systems will be integrated by Diehl Defence onto a lightweight 4x4 platform, providing a defensive capability to protect…
Five US companies have been selected to manufacture a range of Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) for the US Air Force. The companies are: Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Northrop Grumman, General Atomics and Anduril Industries. The CCA program, which is understood to…
The UK Ministry of Defence (UKMoD) has successfully trialled a military laser which can engage targets with extreme accuracy while reducing reliance on high-cost direct and indirect-fire ammunition. During a trial at the MOD’s Hebrides Range in Scotland, the DragonFire Laser…
BAE Systems’ US subsidiary, in collaboration with Moog, has successfully tested its Armored Multi-Purpose Vehicle (AMPV) Counter-Uncrewed Aircraft System (C-UAS) prototype during a live fire demonstration in Arizona. In various realistic battlefield scenarios at the Big Sandy range in Kingman,…
