Airborne weapon delivery systems market that have gained significant industry traction owing to investments in the procurement and development of the next generation aerial platforms that can leverage the country’s defense and attack capabilities. Some of the major countries with significant defense budgets investing in these platforms include China, the U.S., Russia, France, Germany, and the UK, in turn creating a highly conducive environment for growth of the airborne weapon delivery systems market.

Growing territorial disputes among some countries and the increasing concerns for countermeasures against terrorist activities will drive the industry growth

Some of the major territorial disputes in 2016 were among the countries that included Russia and Ukraine for Crimea; China and Japan for the uninhabited islands in the East China Sea; India and Pakistan for Jammu & Kashmir, Israel and Palestine for the Gaza Strip, Golan Heights, and West Bank. Several other regional disputes, majorly concentrated in the Asia Pacific and the Africa are expected to drive the demands for the attack and defense activities. These airborne weapon delivery systems enhance the mission success rates at relatively lower expenses and reduced risk of human lives. Moreover, increasing concerns to monitor the international borders and safeguard the population against the proliferating terrorist activities have led to increased focus on necessitating defense organizations to acquire high endurance attack platforms and deep strike capabilities.

Airborne Weapon Delivery Systems Market Taxonomy

On the basis of product type, the global airborne weapon delivery systems market is classified into:

Fixed-wing fighter aircraft

Rotary wing and UCAV

On the basis of application, the global airborne weapon delivery systems market is classified into:

Military agencies

Missile suppliers

Others

Unmanned combat aerial vehicles (UCAVs) have gained significant industry traction owing to its relatively low costs

Development in the small explosives and missiles that can be used for attack through these unmanned aircraft and drones have become key focus of the defense agencies. Moreover, requirement to reduce the loss of man power and paradigm shift development of air to ground missile attack efficiency is expected to present considerable growth demands. Technology participants in the industry are increasingly emphasizing development of highly compact electro-optic and infrared imaging (EO/IR) systems that can be incorporated in these UAVs. This will enhance the functionality of these systems in surveillance capabilities and target detection. Moreover, miniaturization of the guidance technologies and increased global inclination towards the procurement of UAVs featured with these technologies will in turn drive airborne weapon delivery systems market growth.

Rotary wing and UCAVs have witnessed significant surge over the past few years, are expected to witness highest growth

Major economies across the globe are increasingly emphasizing on minimizing the number of casualties in risky missions and are inclined towards conducting unmanned aerial attacks. This in turn has led to an increased deployment of rotary wing and UCAV. These are equipped with synthetic aperture radar (SAR) systems, laser designators, infrared cameras, and countermeasure systems that consistently transmit data to the control centers or users. Incorporation of these technologies enable command, control, and mission critical related data transmission from the mobile ground control systems.

High initial investment and stringent regulatory landscape for the new industry entrants is expected to present considerable challenge for the new industry entrants

U.S. demands are expected to dominate the regional landscape owing to several factors that prominently include, high inclination towards these solutions, presence of significant industry participants and the large annual defense budgets. Moreover, according to press release in July 2017, U.S. is making significant efforts to develop countermeasures for such unmanned aerial vehicle invasions. Asia Pacific will continue to remain the second most attractive regional segments owing to presence of considerably high number of regional conflicts and the requirement to uphold the competition with neighboring animosity.

Egypt, France, Germany, and the UK are expected to present substantial demands owing to initiation of number of anti-extremist operations. Additionally, these countries have made considerable efforts in procurement and development of several advanced aerial platforms to ensure efficient counter measures in the emergency situations and improve the combat readiness in such situations.

Airborne weapon delivery systems market is fragmented in nature owing to the presence of number of major players competing for the industry shares. Key players include Boeing, BAE Systems, General Dynamics, Elbit Systems, CMC Electronics, Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, Northrop Grumman, and Saab.