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 US Air Force has begun flight testing Californian company Anduril Industries’ YFQ-44A Fury Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA). The company says the YFQ-44A is designed to gain and maintain air superiority in highly contested environments through a focus on autonomy…
For the first time, a US soldier, not a trained aviator, has planned and executed real-world missions in military exercises with Lockheed Martin Sikorsky’s Optionally Piloted (OPV) Black Hawk helicopter, powered by MATRIX™ technology. In partnership with the Joint Personnel…
Just seven weeks after the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) announced the award of a $1.7 billion contract for the manufacture and support of an undisclosed number of Ghost Shark Extra Large Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (XL-AUVs), Anduril has officially opened its…
Boeing has delivered the 13th P-8A Poseidon maritime surveillance and anti‑submarine aircraft to the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) at the same time as the first RAAF P‑8A has been inducted into an upgrade program. The RAAF’s 14th and final P-8A is scheduled…
Washington DC-based Lockheed Martin has announced a US$50 million ($76.4 million) investment in fellow US company Saildrone, a global leader in maritime autonomous systems. This strategic collaboration will deliver commercially available Unmanned Surface Vehicles (USV) equipped with lethal, combat-proven defence…
French counter-mine and autonomy specialist Exail is making another pass over the target. It will showcase its advanced unmanned Mine Countermeasures (MCM) solutions at Indo Pacific 2025, reaffirming its commitment to helping Australia strengthen its maritime security, the company says.…
Together with its AUKUS partners, the RAN has the responsibility for coordinating, supporting and delivering a significant package of maintenance work on the US Navy Virginia-class nuclear-powered submarine USS Vermont. She arrived at Fleet Base West at HMAS Stirling near Fremantle in…
Anduril Industries is one of a new crop of cashed-up defence technology companies - most of them in the United States - that is challenging the business models of long-established European and US prime contractors. The company is known for…
Sydney based Cirrus Real Time Processing Systems, one of Australia’s leading mission training systems developers, has announced the successful delivery of its Air Combat Officer Training System (ACOTS) to its German client, Aerodata AG. The ACOTS training system has been…
ST Engineering has launched the Republic of Singapore Navy's (RSN) first Victory-class Multi-Role Combat Vessel (MRCV) at its Benoi Yard. The 8,000-ton, 150m-long MRCV is designed to serve as a ‘mothership’ for uncrewed systems, enabling seamless operability across air, surface…
