Global Airborne Sensors Market Growth to Hit the Roof with Rising Demand for Airborne Sensors in Military Applications

The escalating terrorism problem is pushing government bodies to get on their toes and do every possible thing to avert a terrorist attack. The defence sector is integrating all the topmost technologies to tackle terrorists and predict their attacks beforehand. One of the prominent technologies being used in the military and defence sector is an airborne sensor.

What is Airborne Remote Sensing?

In airborne remote sensing, sideward or downward looking facing sensors are fixed on an airplane to capture images of the surface of the earth. One of the key benefit of airborne remote sensing, as compared to satellite remote sensing, is its ability to provide enhanced spatial resolution images (20 cm or less).

Why is the Demand for Airborne Sensors Mounting?

Airborne sensors play a crucial role in intelligence departments, support surveillance, and investigation gathering activities in army operations. As the terrorist attacks across several nations is rapidly rising, the need for efficient remote sensing devices has also surged. The airborne sensor industry is witnessing a gigantic growth chiefly owing to an upsurge in implementation of airborne sensors in the defence and military sector. Apart from this, the airborne sensors market has been extending its reach in numerous application areas like in commercial industries, construction activities, mining operations, power supply, and farming for observing the crops, power line mapping, pipeline, and geographical inspection. All this specifies that the airborne sensors market is going to have a rewarding scope in the coming years.

Latest Trends in the Airborne Sensors Market

As per a report by Research Dive, the global airborne sensors market is expected to grow from $9,200.0 million in 2019 to $14,473.7 million by 2030. The airborne sensors market in Europe is the most dominant and anticipated to grow speedily with a CAGR of 5.3% from 2022–2030. This is mainly owing to the rising tactical partnerships amongst the market players and launch of numerous innovative airborne sensors in this region. The region is deliberated as the most rewarding market for the airborne sensors, due to growing significance of airborne sensors in Spain, Luxembourg, the United Kingdom, and Denmark.

Market players are significantly investing in research and development to cater the swelling demand for airborne sensors. Some of the notable players of the airborne sensors market are Teledyne Optech, HEXAGON, Thales Group, Lockheed Martin Corporation, Information Systems Laboratories (ISL), Honeywell International Inc., ITT INC., General Dynamics Corporation, AVT Airborne Sensing GmbH., Raytheon Technologies, and others. These players are focused on forming strategies, for example, mergers and acquisitions, partnerships, novel developments, and collaborations to achieve a prominent position in the global market.

For instance,

• In January 2018, CyberOptics Corporation, a foremost global designer and producer of high precision 3D sensing technologies, launched a next-generation Airborne Particle Sensor technology (APS3) 300mm with novel ParticleSpectrum™ software.
   
• In August 2020, Teledyne Optech, a Canada-based advanced Lidar sensors firm, extended its Galaxy product-line to include the CM2000, an airborne lidar sensor particularly developed for corridor mapping.
   
• In September 2020, Applanix, a developer and manufacturer of a line of Inertial Navigation System products., launched the Trimble® AP+ Air OEM solution for Direct Geo-referencing of airborne sensor data. The solution allows users to precisely and competently generate maps and 3D models without using ground control points.

COVID-19 Impact on the Airborne Sensors Market

The abrupt rise of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020 has curbed the growth of the global airborne sensors market. This is mainly due to the cessation of airborne sensor manufacturing factories due to the implementation of lockdown during the pandemic period. Also, a significant drop in the agriculture activates, due to lockdown restrictions during the pandemic, has declined the use of airborne sensors; which has hindered the market growth. However, as the worldwide economy is recovering with the easing of pandemic, the airborne sensors market is expected to gain momentum with a remarkable increase in defence and agricultural activities worldwide. This is likely to boost the airborne sensors market in the upcoming years.