The Aerospace and Defense industries have witnessed a remarkable transition over the decades with regards to designs, processes, communication, technologies, and many other factors, with an ultimate objective of attaining a sustainable development and growth. With new technologies including robotics/autonomous systems, artificial intelligence and sensor technologies taking centre stage, these sectors may perhaps see an increased push toward the adoption of digital innovation.
The impact of COVID-19 on the Aerospace industry has been noteworthy. As the air travel came to a grinding halt in the face of the novel Corona Virus pandemic, the aerospace industry faced noticeable disruption. Contradictorily on the defense front, the contractors are better positioned, since they haven’t much felt the impact of COVID-19.
Slow recovery from the pandemic upheaval in Global Aerospace Industry
From 100 million passenger departures globally in 1961 to 1.0 billion in 1986, the aerospace sector has grown significantly. It took another 19 years for the industry to reach the 2.0 billion mark, and another 7 years to reach the milestone of 3.0 billion passenger departures.
In 2020, due to the Covid19, the aircraft industry experienced 60% drop in annual air passenger departures, the largest drop in its history, pushing the tally roughly two decades back. Consequently, the revenue passenger kilometers or RPKs plunged 65.9% in 2020 and the total industry passenger revenues fell by 69% to $189 billion in 2020, and net losses were $126.4 billion in total, as per the data published by The International Air Transport Association (IATA).
With the increasing count of vaccinated population, it is expected that the air travel will start recovering from 2021 onwards. Boeing expects the global travel to return to 2019 levels by 2023 or early 2024 and projects the value of the global aerospace industry will reach $9 trillion over the next decade.
Global Military Spending Trends
The world military expenditure in the year 2020 was 2.6% higher than in 2019. Military spending surged in four regions: by 5.1% in Africa, 4.0% in Europe, 3.9% in the Americas and 2.5% in Asia & Oceania.
Global military spending in 2020 is said to be influenced by the expenditure patterns of the US and China. The USA increased its spending to reach $778b in 2020, a 4.4% raise since 2019 but a 10% decrease since 2011. While China’s military expenditure is estimated at $252b in 2020 making it the second largest military spender in 2020 and India stands thirds as it spends more than $72b in the same year, followed by Russia and the United Kingdom.
These five biggest spenders in 2020, together accounted for approx. 62% of global military expenditure.
Global Industry Trends in Aerospace & Defense
Continued technological developments are likely to drive growth and shape the A&D industry over the long term. Some technologies that could bring social transformations in Aerospace and defense sector are –
- Advanced aerial mobility – Aerial mobility/ Unmanned systems or drones are fast making way into military operations. Their advantages range from remote operations to reduced response times, reduced costs, and increased effectiveness in almost the entire spectrum of military operations.
- Electric powered propulsion – Several companies globally are developing electric propulsion systems which could reduce carbon emissions, make fights quieter and decrease costs. In the near term, we could see experimental flights using hybrid or electric propulsion engines.
- Hydrogen in aviation – As OEMs across the globe continue to produce more fuel-efficient and environmental-friendly aircraft, an aircraft that uses hydrogen fuel as power source is increasingly being recognized.
- Hypersonic weapons – China became the first country to publicly announce the deployment of hypersonic weapons in 2019. Russia, U.S. and India also have boasted the technology. The U.S. is clearly behind Russia and China in terms of Hypersonic missile technology while India has a lot of catching to do.
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The Aerospace and Defense industries have witnessed a remarkable transition over the decades with regards to designs, processes, communication, technologies, and many other factors, with an ultimate objective of attaining a sustai
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