Air Defense Systems Market - Growth, Trends, And Forecasts (2020 - 2025)

The air defense systems market is projected to witness a CAGR of 7.02% during the forecast period.

- The nature of air-based warfare has changed in recent years with the advent of more lethal, agile, and untraceable threats having autonomous capabilities. As threats increase, the countries are compelled to safeguard their territories from potential adversaries at any cost, due to which, the emphasis has increased on enhancing the air defense capabilities.
- The market is expected to grow, primarily due to the growth in air-based threats and the increasing defense expenditures that facilitate both procurement and R&D in newer technologies. However, this growth is subjective to several associative factors, such as allocation of funds, which can be adversely affected due to the projected onset of an economic turndown and various technical factors that may eventually lead to the program delays and cancellations.

Key Market Trends

Land-based Segment to Dominate the Market During the Forecast Period

As of 2019, the land-based segment recorded the highest share in the air defense systems market, mainly because of the increasing necessity to protect the personnel and ground stations from incoming aerial threats. Technologically advanced land-based air defense systems are being developed and procured by various countries around the world. The Russian S-400 anti-aircraft weapon system is considered as one of the most advanced air defense systems that are currently in operation. In July 2019, Turkey received the first parts of the S-400 missile defense system from Russia. India is also procuring the S-400 systems, in addition to its indigenous Ashwin Advanced Air Defense (AAD) system, which is a land-based air defense system. Also, the United States is procuring ground-based midcourse defense (GMD), an anti-ballistic missile system for intercepting ballistic missiles, including ICBMs carrying nuclear, chemical, biological, or conventional warheads.

Moreover, modern MANPADs are equipped with ultraviolet sensors for radiation detection, infrared sensors for heat detection, and smart control units. Some of the most widely used MANPADs are Stinger missile (United States), Strela (Russia), Igla (Russia), Qianwei (China and Pakistan), etc. With the increasing incidents of drone strikes and air space intrusions, forces across the world are seeking advanced MANPADs for air defense. Russia finished the trials of Gibka-S, a new close-range air defense mobile system, in December 2019. The system uses missiles from Verba or Igla MANPADs, which are installed on Tiger 4x4 all-terrain armored vehicle. High Precision Systems Corporation develops the new weapon system, and they can fire projectiles at extremely low-flying objects, such as drones, helicopters, and ground-attack aircraft (defensive radars cannot detect that). Various initiatives by governments, primarily related to the modernization of ground troop equipment, like procurement of new ground air defense systems and development of advanced MANPADs, are expected to propel the growth of the segment during the forecast period.

Asia-Pacific to Experience the Highest Growth During the Forecast Period

The Asia-Pacific region is projected to register the highest CAGR during the forecast period. Growing territorial disputes in the region, coupled with the increase in the conflicts in the South China Sea, are some of the significant factors that have necessitated the importance of air defense in the region. Major defense exporters, like the United States, Russia, and Israel, are looking at Asia-Pacific as the region with the highest growth potential, and are pitching their air defense systems to various countries in the region. Also, the United States and Russia are primarily concentrating on the region to increase their political influence in the Asia-Pacific region. China has recently conducted a technical inspection of the second batch of S-400 air defense systems from Russia. India is also planning to receive its first S-400 air defense unit by 2020.

Moreover, Pakistan inducted a Chinese-made Low-to-Medium Altitude Air Defence System (LOMADS) LY 80 in March 2018. In March 2019, the Australian Defense Force's new air defense system, the Raytheon/Kongsberg NASAMS (National Advanced Surface to Air Missile System), passed Gate 2 approval and is now set to be acquired by Australia under Land 19 Phase 7B. All these developments are expected to increase the growth of the air defense systems market in this region in the future.

Competitive Landscape

Raytheon Company, Israel Aerospace Industries Ltd, Rheinmetall AG, Lockheed Martin Corporation, and Thales Group are some of the prominent players in the market. With the competition growing in the industry, innovation becomes the key for the players for standing out in the growing competition. The growth in stealth technology has increased the need for efficient detection of incoming aerial threats. This has propelled a significant amount of R&D investments in air defense technologies. Several major defense exporting countries are trying to sell their air defense systems to other countries that lack defense manufacturing capability. Indigenous manufacturing of the air defense systems is also kicking off, with several of the new, locally developed air defense systems about to come into operation during the forecast period.

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