Military Fire Control Systems Market - Global Industry Size, Share, Trends, Opportunity, and Forecast, 2021-2031

The Global Military Fire Control Systems Market is projected to expand from USD 7.42 billion in 2025 to USD 11.36 billion by 2031, reflecting a compound annual growth rate of 7.36%. This sector comprises integrated networks of ballistic computers, tracking radars, and sensors designed to help weapon systems locate and eliminate targets with extreme precision. Market growth is primarily fueled by the rising global demand for precision munitions and the urgent need to modernize naval and airborne platforms to address asymmetric warfare threats. Consequently, there is a sustained requirement for sophisticated target acquisition tools and automated solution calculators across land, sea, and air environments.

Despite these growth prospects, the market encounters significant hurdles related to the technical difficulty of merging modern software architectures with legacy hardware components. These interoperability challenges often result in prolonged development schedules and escalating production costs, potentially delaying the rollout of enhanced capabilities. Underscoring the magnitude of investment required for such modernization efforts, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization reported that European Allies allocated a combined total of USD 380 billion to defense in 2024, illustrating the massive fiscal commitment needed to support these complex programs.

Market Drivers

Rising global defense spending and strategic modernization initiatives serve as the primary engines for the growth of the military fire control systems market. As geopolitical instability forces a rapid overhaul of outdated defense infrastructures, governments are prioritizing substantial investments in high-precision weaponry and digitized command networks. This surge in funding is essential for procuring advanced ballistic computers and electro-optical tracking systems capable of operating across land, sea, and air domains. Data from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute in April 2024 indicated that global military expenditure rose by 6.8 percent in real terms to reach $2.44 trillion in 2023, directly supporting the retrofit of aging platforms with automated solutions to ensure military dominance.

Simultaneously, the integration of artificial intelligence and automated targeting algorithms is revolutionizing the technical capabilities of fire control units. Modern combat environments demand systems that can process immense volumes of sensor data to detect and engage threats far more rapidly than human operators. By embedding machine learning into targeting software, manufacturers are shortening the sensor-to-shooter cycle and improving hit probabilities in fluid situations. For instance, the U.S. Department of Defense requested $1.8 billion in March 2024 specifically to facilitate AI adoption for warfighting, driving industrial momentum as companies like RTX Corporation reported record backlogs of $221 billion in 2024, highlighting the long-term demand for these integrated technologies.

Market Challenges

A major obstacle to market acceleration is the technical complexity involved in retrofitting contemporary software architectures onto legacy hardware systems. As armed forces attempt to enhance their fire control capabilities, integration bottlenecks arise due to the incompatibility between aging physical platforms and advanced algorithmic solutions. These engineering challenges invariably lead to extended testing periods and significant cost overruns, effectively delaying the delivery of essential upgrades to end-users. Consequently, manufacturers experience slower project completion rates, which constrains the speed at which new revenue streams can be realized from modernization contracts.

This friction is particularly critical considering the substantial capital currently flowing into the sector to support equipment updates. Although the Aerospace, Security and Defence Industries Association of Europe reported a defense sector turnover of 183.4 billion euros in 2024, representing robust demand, the inability to swiftly bridge the technological gap between different generations of equipment hinders rapid market expansion. The operational friction caused by these interoperability issues ultimately limits the industry's capacity to transform high demand into fully deployed assets within the anticipated timelines.

Market Trends

The move toward network-centric warfare and connectivity is requiring fire control units to operate as integrated nodes within a digital ecosystem rather than as isolated systems. This trend emphasizes closing the gap between sensors and shooters, facilitating real-time data exchange that drastically reduces the time needed to compute and execute ballistic solutions for indirect fire. Manufacturers are embedding secure digital communications into targeting computers to allow weapon systems to automatically process coordinates from remote observers. For example, Leonardo DRS announced in January 2025 that it secured a $99 million contract to modernize the U.S. Army’s mortar fire control system, linking mortar crews directly to the digital command network.

Concurrently, the development of soldier-borne small arms fire control systems is driving the miniaturization of precision targeting technology for dismounted infantry. By combining laser rangefinders, atmospheric sensors, and ballistic calculators into compact rifle optics, the industry is empowering individual soldiers to engage moving targets with hit probabilities previously limited to vehicle platforms. These "smart sights" are increasingly vital for neutralizing asymmetric threats like small drones at the squad level. Illustrating this shift, EDR Magazine reported in May 2025 that the U.S. Army awarded Smartshooter a $13 million contract for Smash 2000L systems, reflecting the growing operational reliance on intelligent handheld optics.

Key Players Profiled in the Military Fire Control Systems Market

• Elbit Systems Ltd.
• BAE Systems PLC
• Lockheed Martin Corporation
• General Dynamics Corporation
• Safran S.A.
• Rheinmetall AG
• Bharat Electronics Ltd.
• Saab AB
• RTX Corporation
• Northrop Grumman Corporation

Report Scope

In this report, the Global Military Fire Control Systems Market has been segmented into the following categories:

Military Fire Control Systems Market, by Application:

• Naval
• Ground-Based
• Airborne

Military Fire Control Systems Market, by Platform:

• Weapon Mounted
• Vehicle Mounted

Military Fire Control Systems Market, by Component:

• Gun Director
• Computing Devices/Displays
• Sensor
• Others

Military Fire Control Systems Market, by Region:

• North America
• Europe
• Asia-Pacific
• South America
• Middle East & Africa

Competitive Landscape

Company Profiles: Detailed analysis of the major companies present in the Global Military Fire Control Systems Market.

Available Customization

The analyst offers customization according to your specific needs. The following customization options are available for the report:

• Detailed analysis and profiling of additional market players (up to five).

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