Strategic Intelligence: The Internet of Things in Aerospace, Defense, and Security

At the analyst, we track all themes impacting all companies across all sectors. Understanding the themes set out in this report will help you outperform your peers in 2025. The graphic below depicts our 2025 theme map. It highlights the big themes driving profits across industries and is the result of a series of interviews with senior industry executives and investors, reflecting an up-to-date view of the issues that keep them awake at night. Our 2025 theme map covers not only disruptive technology themes but also ESG, macroeconomic, and regulatory themes.

In the world of Aerospace, defense and security, our industry-specific themes focus on particular defense-related technologies, as well as trending segments of the market with the largest up-front investments in expanding production, R&D and product development. Naturally, geopolitics remains a central theme for aerospace and defense, as the core primary driver of investment and growth in this space.

The internet originated from the defense industry

The US military used DARPANET, a precursor to the internet, to give communications networks Cold War survivability. The Internet of Things, or IoT, extends internet connections into everyday objects using connected sensors and actuators. Military applications of IoT have a wide range of battlefield applications, including soldier and vehicle health monitoring, predictive maintenance, uncrewed platforms, smart battlefields, smart weapons, and smart bases.

Connected devices combine to enhance the OODA loop

Uncertainty is rife on battlefields. Commanders tirelessly attempt to improve their information to navigate the fog of war. IoT devices can aggregate data from soldiers, equipment, drones, and vehicles to create a smart battlefield, improving command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (C4ISR) and enhancing the observe, orient, decide, and act (OODA) loop. As battlefields digitalize and armed forces rely less on first-hand information from soldiers, data-aggregating connected devices will only proliferate.

Drones are developing into powerful assets

Drones are a versatile component of modern military operations, offering capabilities ranging from surveillance to direct engagement in combat scenarios. Drones rely on IoT sensors, especially when it comes to autonomous drones. Uncrewed aerial systems (UASs) already support armed forces for urban combat and at sea. 5G and artificial intelligence (AI) will enable drones to significantly alter working relationships in the defense sector as it transitions to increasingly digitized and automated battlespaces.

Maintenance, repair, and overhaul are dependent on IoT

As costs increase for contractors, maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) are becoming vital to help reduce any potential burden on taxpayers. Sensor-dependent health and usage monitoring systems (HUMSs) ensure the reliability and safety of vehicles, particularly in aerospace. They enable condition-based maintenance (CBM) and operational data recording (ODR) by continuously monitoring equipment conditions. When combined with AI and digital twins, IoT also enables predictive maintenance, allowing armed forces to detect equipment failures before they occur.

Key Highlights

Overview of themes: automation, visualization, connectivity, collaboration, and interpretation in the defense sector. Key technologies mentioned include drones, UAS, UGVs, UMVs, Soldier Modernizaiton, 5G, AI, LAWS, AR, VR, Digital Twins, MUM-T.

Scope

• The report details the key technoliges comprising the analyst's Internet of Things framework, and their effect on the aerospace, defense, and security sectors. The physical layer, connectivity layer, services layer, app layer, and data layers represent Global Data's interet of things framework.

Reasons to Buy

• Determine potential investment companies based on trend analysis and market projections.
• Gaining an understanding of the market challenges and opportunities surrounding trending defense themes in 2025.
• Understanding how spending on these themes will fit into the overall defense market.