Electronic Warfare Market - Global Industry Size, Share, Trends, Opportunity, and Forecast, 2021-2031

The Global Electronic Warfare Market is projected to expand from USD 30.67 Billion in 2025 to USD 47.68 Billion by 2031, registering a compound annual growth rate of 7.63%. This sector centers on the strategic utilization of the electromagnetic spectrum to safeguard friendly forces while detecting, deceiving, and disrupting adversary activities. Market growth is driven by intensifying geopolitical instability and a worldwide drive toward military modernization, with governments prioritizing investments to secure information superiority over peer competitors. According to the Aerospace, Security and Defence Industries Association of Europe, defense turnover in this sector rose by 13.8 percent in 2024, fueling the advancement of essential jamming and threat detection technologies for modern combat scenarios.

However, the market faces significant hurdles due to the fragmentation of the industrial base and supply chain. Inconsistent national standards and regulatory obstacles frequently hinder cross-border collaboration, resulting in duplicated efforts and delayed program execution. These inefficiencies place a strain on defense manufacturers and slow the delivery of critical electronic warfare assets. Consequently, the lack of streamlined cooperation and standardized processes threatens to impede the rapid deployment of capabilities necessary to address evolving security threats effectively.

Market Drivers

Escalating geopolitical tensions and regional conflicts are the primary catalysts accelerating the demand for electronic warfare systems. As nations encounter growing conventional and asymmetric threats, there is a critical need to upgrade spectral dominance capabilities to neutralize adversary communications and radar effectively. This volatile security environment has led to a global surge in defense budgets; the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute reported a 6.8 percent real-term increase in military expenditure in April 2024. This influx of capital directly supports defense contractors, with Saab reporting an 85 percent increase in order bookings for the first half of 2024, highlighting the urgent global requirement for sophisticated defensive systems.

A second major driver is the integration of artificial intelligence and cognitive capabilities into electronic warfare architectures. Modern battlefields feature agile frequency-hopping signals that legacy systems struggle to counter, prompting a shift toward cognitive systems capable of autonomous threat identification. This transition necessitates substantial investment in machine learning algorithms to manage the electromagnetic spectrum, as evidenced by the U.S. Department of Defense allocating $1.8 billion in its fiscal year 2025 budget specifically for AI adoption. These technological advancements enable electronic warfare suites to adapt to enemy signatures in real-time, enhancing survivability and operational effectiveness in dense signal environments.

Market Challenges

The fragmentation of the industrial base and supply chain represents a significant barrier to the growth of the Global Electronic Warfare Market. Divergent national standards and complex regulatory frameworks often obstruct international collaboration, compelling manufacturers to navigate inconsistent compliance requirements and duplicate efforts. In a sector where systems depend on highly specialized components and precise integration, these inefficiencies create severe logistical bottlenecks. The resulting strain on resources frequently delays the production and delivery of critical jamming and detection assets, preventing companies from fulfilling contracts within projected timelines.

This structural fragility limits market expansion by diminishing the resilience and capacity of the manufacturing ecosystem. The National Defense Industrial Association's 'Vital Signs 2024' report indicates that private sector respondents lost 26 percent of critical suppliers over the preceding three years. This contraction in the supplier network increases vulnerability to disruptions and extends lead times for advanced electronic warfare capabilities. Consequently, the inability to rapidly scale production to meet rising global demand directly constrains revenue realization and slows the overall development of the market.

Market Trends

The convergence of cyber and electronic warfare capabilities is fundamentally reshaping the tactical landscape, requiring defense strategies to view the electromagnetic spectrum and cyberspace as a unified maneuver space. This trend drives the deployment of integrated systems that can simultaneously jam radio frequencies and inject malicious code into adversary networks, thereby amplifying the impact of offensive operations. As communication and navigation systems become increasingly digitized, the overlap between jamming signals and cyber intrusions necessitates a holistic approach to spectral dominance. For instance, CACI International secured a $450 million contract in July 2024 to support U.S. Space Command operations that specifically address threats spanning space, cyber, and electronic warfare domains.

Simultaneously, the industry is transitioning toward software-defined and open architecture standards to mitigate the rapid obsolescence of legacy hardware. By adopting frameworks such as the Modular Open Systems Approach, manufacturers are decoupling hardware from software, allowing defense forces to efficiently update electronic warfare libraries with new threat profiles. This shift significantly reduces lifecycle costs and accelerates the deployment of countermeasures against agile frequency-hopping adversaries. Illustrating this trend, BAE Systems was awarded a $95 million contract in June 2024 to provide the U.S. Navy with systems featuring a flexible, open architecture designed to facilitate rapid modernization and the incorporation of third-party techniques.

Key Players Profiled in the Electronic Warfare Market

• Lockheed Martin
• Raytheon Technologies
• Northrop Grumman
• BAE Systems
• Thales Group
• Saab AB
• Leonardo S.p.A.
• Elbit Systems
• L3Harris Technologies
• Israel Aerospace Industries

Report Scope

In this report, the Global Electronic Warfare Market has been segmented into the following categories:

Electronic Warfare Market, by Capability:

• Support
• Attack
• Protection

Electronic Warfare Market, by Equipment:

• Jammers
• Antennas
• Radar Warning Receiver
• Anti-Radiation Missiles
• Directed Energy Weapon
• CMDS
• DIRCM
• Others

Electronic Warfare Market, by Platform:

• Air
• Land
• Naval
• Space

Electronic Warfare 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 Electronic Warfare 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).

This product will be delivered within 1-3 business days.