Global Airborne Pods Market– Latest Trends, Forecast, and Opportunity Analysis
The Global Airborne Pods Market: Highlights
Airborne pods refer to an external pod structure,
which is designed to provide a better aerial detection, recognition,
identification, targeting, communication, data linking, and self-defensive
capabilities to an aircraft. It is used to convert a normal aircraft into a
warfare or surveillance aircraft. Previously, systems and components of these
pods were individually used in different sections of an aircraft. For instance;
camera, radars, and sensors could be equipped in wings, fuselage, or the nose
of the cockpit of an aircraft, whereas sensors, radars, and their components,
are used separately in some warfare helicopters, such as Apache and Black Hawk.
In an airborne pod, there are many components
including data link systems, sensors, radars, environment cooling system, and
modem assembly that help an aircraft to overcome the problems and difficulties,
such as detecting, recognizing, and aiming a target in different ranges. Every
component inside a pod has its own importance, such as data link system
provides real-time data linking from air-to-air, air-to-ground, and
air-to-water operations in different ranges where range depends upon a lot of
factors, such as size and lenses of camera and sensors. The communication
system offers the capability of clear and real-time communication between an
aircraft and the base. Environment cooling system keeps the atmosphere cool
inside the pod when it gets heated due to fast processing of systems and high-speed
of aircraft, especially in the combat aircraft, at higher altitudes. It is very
necessary for a sensor or camera lenses to withstand at required atmosphere for
clear image processing.
Previously, metals, such as aluminum and steel, were
mainly used to manufacture airborne pods. But, due to their higher weight and
significant maintenance cost, the industry has started shifting towards
composite materials. In the last few decades, composite materials have become
the perennial choice in fabricating components and structure of pods as the
materials not only offer the advantages of lightweight and high
strength-to-weight ratio, but also improve the overall pod aesthetics.
The modernized aircraft pod design is rich in composites with reduced aerodynamic
drag, due to its smooth airflow design. This further helps in carrying more
components inside a pod, due to its lightweight and more cabin space inside the
pod. This, in turn, helps the manufactures to offer multi-functionality in
single pod.
The global airborne pods market is projected to grow
at a healthy rate over the next five years to reach US$ 3,167.9 million in
2023. Growing military expenditure, especially in the developing economies
including China and India, an emergence of ISR due to security reasons, an
increasing demand for advanced targeting systems, and rising military aircraft
upgrade are the major growth factors that are burgeoning the demand for
airborne pods in various countries. Asia-Pacific and North America are
the biggest demand generators with a current combined share of more than
two-third of the total airborne pods market.
The global airborne pods market is segmented based
on the aircraft type as Combat Aircraft, Helicopter, UAV, and Others. Combat
aircraft and UAVs are likely to remain the growth engines of the market during
the forecast period. Rising global tension is compelling various countries to
rapidly upgrade their defense capabilities in order to protect themselves from
uncertainty and to further solidify their borders. Major developed markets,
such as the USA, freeze very high defense budget with a purpose to remain the
leading market and to provide the highest security to their civilians, whereas
developing economies, such as China, Saudi Arabia, and India, are continuously
increasing their defense budgets to quickly advance their existing defense
capabilities. This is primarily driving the demand for airborne pods in the
combat aircraft and UAV segments in the coming years. Additional drivers are
emergence of ISR, rising demand for better targeting systems, and an increasing
demand for lightweight pods, which are acting as the catalyst to the overall
demand for airborne pods in these segments.
Based on the pod type, the market is bifurcated into
Intelligence, Surveillance, & Reconnaissance (ISR), Targeting, Self-Protection/Countermeasure,
and Others. ISR is likely to remain the most dominant segment of the global
airborne pods market over the next five years. ISR pod offers a wide array of
advantages, such as precise identification, detection, and recognition of targets.
It also converts a normal combat aircraft or a helicopter to a surveillance and
reconnaissance aircraft/helicopter by adding such features to it. Its
capability is based on the sensors which are situated inside the pod. The
larger the sensor and lenses of the camera, the larger the range of the pod.
Whereas, targeting pods are likely to be the fastest-growing segment of the
global airborne pods market, mainly driven by increasing military aircraft
procurement and upgradation of the existing fleet of military aircraft across
the world.
Global
Airborne Pods Market - Insights
by Enclosure type
Based on the enclosure type, the market is segmented
into Composite Pods and Metal Pods. Composite enclosure is likely to remain the
more dominant and faster-growing segment of the airborne pods market during the
forecast period. It provides numerous advantages over its counterpart (metal
pods), such as good product performance, low maintenance cost, and excellent
corrosion resistance. Composite enclosure further helps in reducing the
aerodynamic drag due to its smooth structure. It is expected that there would
be a continuous shift from metal enclosures to composite enclosures in the
coming years.
Based on the sensor type, the market is segmented
into Electro-Optical (EO)/ Infrared (IR), Electronic Warfare (EW)/Electronic
Attack (EA), Infrared Countermeasure (IRCM), and Others. The EO/IR segment is
projected to maintain its dominance in the market over the next five years.
Increasing demand for ISR pods and rising emergence of ISR due to security
reasons are the major growth drivers of EO/IR sensors in the global airborne
pods market. Electronic warfare/electronic attack (EW/EA) sensors are likely to
be the fastest-growing segment of the global airborne pods market during the
forecast period 2018-2023.
Global
Airborne Pods Market - Insights
by Region type
Based on regions, North America is projected to
remain the largest market during the forecast period. The USA is the growth
engine of the region’s market and has the largest fleet of combat aircraft
across the world. Rising military aircraft fleet size with a high focus on
their upgrade is likely to further boost the overall demand for airborne pods
in the region in the foreseeable future. Additionally, all the major pod
manufacturers are located in the region to support the defense department and
OEMs, helping the country to own more advanced airborne pods.
Asia-Pacific is likely to witness the highest growth
during the same period, driven by a host of factors including increasing
defense budget of China, India, and South Korea, continuous upgrade of existing
aircraft fleet, and higher investment in developing and procuring UAVs, due to
rising tensions in different parts of the region.
The supply chain of this market comprises raw
material suppliers, pod manufacturers, tier-1 players, and end-users. The key
airborne pod companies are Thales Group, Lockheed Martin Corporation, UTC
Aerospace Systems, Northrop Grumman Corporation, Raytheon Company, Harris
Corporation, S.G.D. Engineering Ltd., Airborne Technologies, Ultra Electronics
Holdings PLC, CPI Aerostructures, Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Ltd., and
SAAB AB. Development of advanced pods and formation of long-term contracts are
some of the most common strategies adopted by the major players in order to
remain competitive in the market.
For more information, contact
Stratview Research
Email: sales@stratviewresearch.com
Direct: +1-313-307-4176
Comments
Post a Comment