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Military UAV Sensor Market Analysis

ID: MRFR//4637-HCR | 100 Pages | Author: Sejal Akre| April 2024

The development, advancement, and reception of military UAV sensors inside the safeguard area are significantly affected by a large number of market elements impacting factors. Mechanical headways are the overwhelming impetuses in this market. Sensor innovation for military automated airborne vehicles has been essentially changed by the consistent progressions in goal, reach, exactness, and mix capacities. Significant improvements in SAR, electro-optical (EO), and infrared (IR) sensors engage UAVs to all the more effectively perform observation, reconnaissance, and knowledge gathering, consequently impacting market elements as per advancing guard requests.

The ascent in accentuation on working on the capacities of observation and reconnaissance drives the requirement for military UAV sensors. Sensors of this nature are vital in outfitting military powers with situational mindfulness, continuous knowledge, and target procurement capacities. The market elements are affected by the ability of UAV sensors to gather information across broad districts, notice tasks, and recognize takes a chance in different geographies and environmental factors. This drives speculations and progress in sensor advancements that explicitly address the developing necessities of protection applications.
Besides, market elements in the military UAV sensor area are significantly affected by the unique enhancements that happen in clashes, unbalanced fighting, and counterinsurgency tasks. Uncommon danger and hid target discovery, ID, and following capacities are fundamental for UAV sensors used by protection organizations. The consistently changing necessities of protection areas drive the requirement for sensors equipped for working effectively in many-sided and requesting environmental factors, in this manner affecting business sector elements through the advancement of more adaptable and particular sensor frameworks.
Administrative norms and consistency commitments likewise significantly affect the market elements of military UAV sensors. Severe quality, security, and functional standards should be trailed by UAV sensors of military grade to ensure steadfastness, accuracy, and adherence to protection guidelines. By putting resources into consistency with these thorough guidelines, producers ensure that their sensors fulfill the prerequisites for protection contracts, in this manner applying an effect on market elements and acquisition choices.
The impact of cost factors on market elements is critical in the military UAV sensor industry also. While chasing after financially savvy arrangements, safeguard organizations attempt to keep up with execution and quality principles. Upper hand is acquired by producers who intend to convey elite execution sensors at cutthroat costs. This effect on market elements is accomplished through the fascination of guard organizations that are looking for esteem driven arrangements.
Likewise, tries dedicated to innovative work (Research and development) encourage seriousness and advancement on the lookout for military UAV sensors. Organizations keep an upper hand by putting resources into Research and development drives that upgrade sensor innovations, capacities, capacities joining, and cost decrease, as well as the combination of refined highlights. The ceaseless advancement in sensor scaling down, improved usefulness, information handling, and mix affects market elements as it pushes the development of UAV sensor frameworks that are more adaptable and productive.
Mechanical progressions, the interest for further developed observation capacities, advancing guard particulars, administrative consistence, cost-adequacy, and ceaseless advancement all impact the market elements of military UAV sensors. Considering developing guard necessities that focus on precision, adaptability, and upgraded reconnaissance functionalities, the headway and execution of UAV sensor innovation will persevere as significant variables affecting business sector elements and embellishment the direction of military UAV sensor arrangements.

Covered Aspects:

Report Attribute/Metric Details

Global Military UAV Sensor Market Overview


Military UAV Sensor Market Size was valued at USD 2.03 billion in 2022. The Military UAV Sensor Market is projected to grow to USD 3.37 billion by 2032, exhibiting a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.80% during the forecast period (2022 - 2032).


The sensor is a device that detects physical input, such as light, heat, motion, moisture, pressure, or any other entity, and responds by producing an output on display or transmits the information in electronic form for further processing. Sensors are used in unmanned aerial vehicles to cater different functions such as navigation, collision avoidance, and data acquisition. Image sensor systems are currently trending in the market and are expected to be of significant importance, particularly in battlefield monitoring. Another important application of the UAV sensors is laser scanning, which covers large areas of terrains, such as steep gullies and cliffs, which is widely used due to its high accuracy in measuring distance.


Of late, high investments are being made in the development of military UAVs, which would witness rapid growth during the forecast period. However, one of the major restraints of the market is the stringent regulations made by the local aviation regulatory bodies. Moreover, in recent years, the defense sectors of various countries are making significant investments to increase their Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) fleet. The benefit of sensor technologies is that they help in improving the overall UAV architecture.


Therefore, it is important for UAV manufacturers to have competent sensors technology in unmanned aerial vehicles. For instance, in 2017, Raytheon signed a contract with the US Department of Defense (DoD), to modify and retrofit the sensors on the Global Hawk UAV. Similarly, in 2016, TE Connectivity acquired Jaquet Technology Group, to design and develop sensors for military applications. The acquisition helped the company to acquire expertise in sensor technologies. The increasing investments in military UAVs, such as combat drones, will offer new growth opportunities to the market players.


One of the factors responsible for the growth of the military UAV sensor market is the increasing number of military drones, such as combat drones, tactical drones, and target drones. The sensor market is dominated by the electronics industry. Companies are strategically setting up their electronic manufacturing plants in the Asia Pacific region to avail various benefits, such as low cost of raw materials and availability of cheap labor. There were several contracts that fueled market growth. For instance, in 2017, Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Inc. signed a contract with Defense Innovation Unit Experimental for the integration of certain sensors in high-speed drones.


The military UAV sensor market has been segmented into UAV type, sensor type, technology type, application, and region. Based on UAV type, the High-Altitude Long Endurance (HALE) UAVs are widely used and comprise the largest share in the market due to enhanced flying capability and high endurance. HALE UAV can fly as high as 60,000 feet and are durable for a 32-hour mission. Based on sensor type, it is expected that the radar sensors are expected to witness the largest demand in the global market, during the forecast period, due to increasing adoption of radar sensors for various applications.


Segmentation of the Global Military UAV Sensor Market


Radar sensors can transmit radio frequency and interpret the return frequency to understand the earth’s surface properties. Radar sensors provide unique advantages in varied applications in aerospace & defense. Based on application, the navigation market segment is expected to account for the largest market share due to the increased usage of the inertial sensor in the architecture of unmanned aerial vehicles. As inertial sensors are worked on the principle of gyroscope to navigate and estimate the properties of the terrain.


Based on technology, Micro Electromechanical Systems (MEMS) are expected to dominate the market during the forecast period, as it is comprising the pressure sensor, accelerometer, gyroscope, pressure sensor, and biosensor for guiding, navigating, and controlling an autonomous UAV.  Additionally, it consumes less power and has high navigation sensitivity, which makes UAV applicable for extremely demanding applications and environment.


Based on region, the market has been segmented into North America, Asia Pacific, Europe, Middle East & Africa, and Latin America. North America is expected to dominate the market in the future, due to its high deployment of UAVs for military applications. As a result, there is a large-scale development of sensors, such as image sensor, radar sensor, motion sensor, and optical sensor, which are integrated with UAV. Asia-Pacific is expected to follow North America due to the recent investments by companies on R&D and expanding electronics industry.


Intended Audience



  • UAV manufacturers

  • Drone service providers

  • Software developers

  • Component providers

  • Regulatory bodies

  • Government authorities

  • Research institutes

  • Regulatory bodies


Key Players


The key players in the global military UAV sensor market are TE Connectivity (Switzerland), Raytheon Company (US), Thales Group (France), Lockheed Martin (US), AeroVironment (US), General Atomics (US), FLIR Systems (US), Elbit Systems (Israel), Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (US), Northrop Grumman Corporation (US), Honeywell International Inc. (US), and Safran Electronics & Defense (France).


Research Methodology


The market values and forecasts are derived using MRFR research methodology, which includes secondary research, primary interviews, data triangulation, and validation from an in-house data repository and statistical modeling tools.


Secondary Research


In this process, data is collected from various secondary sources, including annual reports, SEC filings, journals, government associations, aerospace & defense magazines, white papers, corporate presentations, company websites, and paid databases.


Primary Research


In this process, both the demand- and supply-side parties are interviewed to extract facts and insights into the market forecast, production, trends, and projected market growth. Industry stakeholders such as CEOs, VPs, directors, and marketing executives across the value chain are approached to obtain key information.


Key Insights



  • Market sizing, forecast, and analysis: detailed coverage of the market segment and sub-segments

  • Regional/country trends and forecast: detailed analysis of the market in North America, Asia-Pacific, Europe, the Middle East & Africa, and Latin America, along with key countries in each region

  • Market dynamics intelligence: market drivers, opportunities, trends, restraints, Porter’s five forces, supply chain, and value chain analysis

  • Technology trends, regulatory landscape, and patent analysis outlook

  • Competitive intelligence: market share analysis, financial analysis, product benchmarking, and strategic developments including joint ventures, product launches, and mergers & acquisitions

  • Regional attractiveness and related growth opportunities


Report Customization MRFR offers report customization to valued customers. Below are the options available for customization: Company Profiles In-depth profiling of additional market players (3 to 4 companies) Country-Level Analysis Detailed analysis of a country-level market and related segments as per the report scope (subject to data availability)

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