The Aerospace and Military Fiber Optic Market is projected to reach US$ 7,208.36 million by 2028; it is expected to grow at a CAGR of 7.0% from 2022 to 2028

The aerospace industry and defense forces use advanced communication systems to facilitate effective and continuous contact between personnel at different sites and the base station or ground station. Thus, these two industries pose a continuously high demand for technologically enhanced and high-speed communication systems. The major benefit conferred by high-speed data transfer solutions is the access to real-time information with minimum scope for data loss. This benefit has been urging the aircraft manufacturers to opt for fiber optic solutions, which is augmenting the aerospace and military fiber optic market.

Commercial airlines have opted for long-haul flights due to increasing passenger traffic on these routes. Long-haul flights demand high-speed communication and seamless connectivity. Further, Ethernet has been the most preferred choice for network infrastructure protocol among commercial airlines over the years, owing to its superior performance, reliability, and universally accepted open standard. However, the Ethernet network connectivity faced limitations in transmitting high bandwidth data over longer distances. Due to this, several aircraft cabling system manufacturers ventured into the fiber-optic cable industry, which has been propelling the aerospace and military fiber optic market growth.

North America leads in technological advancements and expenditure toward aerospace technologies that primarily drive the market in this region. Moreover, this region is witnessing increasing use of aerospace and military fiber optics due to the rising demand for creating tactical data link systems across aerospace and military sectors. For instance, in the year 2019, the US government invested US$716 billion on national security. This money supported military modernization efforts and secure communication among the armed services. Every year, in the US, general aviation aircraft log 25.5 million flight hours in which two-thirds of this traffic is for business purposes. Canadian and US-based airlines such as Delta Air Lines, American Airlines, Air Canada, United Airlines, and Southwest Airlines placed numerous orders for commercial aircraft, which are to be delivered between 2021 and 2025. The increasing number of orders of aircraft production of aircraft for commercial and military applications is helping the growth of the aerospace and military fiber optic market.

The increasing demand for new and reliable fiber optic cables and connectors for communication systems is also one of the major factors driving the growth of aerospace and military fiber optic market. For instance, in February 2021, Raytheon provided radar system kits for the US navy's Poseidon aircraft. This contract provides radar system production kits and related support for the Poseidon aircraft for Navy and Foreign Military Sales (FMS) customers. Such initiatives are propelling the growth of aerospace and military fiber optic market activities in North America Region

COVID-19 Impact on Aerospace and Military Fiber Optic Market

In North America, the US is the largest military spending country, followed by Canada and Mexico. However, the COVID-19 pandemic forced these countries on the backfoot to invest in developing and acquiring new military technologies in this region. There was a complete halt in the production, manufacturing, and supply chain of the military and aerospace equipment due to longer lockdowns implemented by various governments in their respective countries. Hence, the pandemic had a negative impact on the aerospace and military fiber optic market in this region.

Moreover, labor shortages led to the decline in the revenue of key market players in the North America aerospace and military fiber optic market. However, the region's military and defense enterprises restarted the procurement of aerospace and military fiber optics in the post-COVID-19 recovery period; hence, this regional market has regained its momentum. Also, this trend is expected to continue over the next few years, aiding the aerospace and military fiber optic market growth.

Additionally, the military unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) industry has been expanding since the inception of the technology. The functioning of numerous companies in the military UAV sector enables defense forces to choose from various products. Various military UAV manufacturers are integrating their models with a wide range of technologically advanced payloads, such as communication systems, surveillance and monitoring systems, and sensors. Defense forces worldwide are investing significantly in UAVs as they play a crucial role in defense activities. Traditional military UAVs used conventional cablings to transmit the collected data; however, fiber optic cables have replaced these in recent years. This is attributed to the ability of fiber optic cables to relay the real-time data at a faster rate than conventional cables. Moreover, they enable the transmission of large data volumes over long distances. These benefits drive the aerospace and military fiber optic market size.

In the past couple of years, the use of tethered drones has increased at a noteworthy rate among military forces. As a result, the demand for fiber optics has surged among the tethered drone manufacturers. In 2021, UAVForDrone developed a multi-rotor tethered UAV with an optical fiber system that is capable of transferring data and video links via the fiber cable from the air units to the ground station. Thus, advancements in military UAVs, coupled with the presence of fiber optic suppliers for UAVs, are leading to significant growth trends in the aerospace and military fiber optic market.

A few aerospace and military fiber optic market players include Carlisle Interconnect Technologies (US), TE Connectivity (US/Switzerland), AFL (US), W. L. Gore and Associates, Inc. (US), Amphenol FSI (US), Prysmian Group (Italy), Raytheon Technologies Corporation (US), Prysmian S.p.A. (Italy), Nexans S.A. (France), Radiall (France) and Glenair, Inc. (US).

The overall aerospace and military fiber optic market size has been derived using both primary and secondary sources. To begin the research process, exhaustive secondary research has been conducted using internal and external sources to obtain qualitative and quantitative information related to the market. The process also serves the purpose of obtaining an overview and forecast of the aerospace and military fiber optic market size with respect to all market segments. Also, multiple primary interviews have been conducted with industry participants and commentators to validate the data and gain more analytical insights. The participants typically involved in this process include VPs, business development managers, market intelligence managers, national sales managers, and external consultants-such as valuation experts, research analysts, and key opinion leaders-specializing in the aerospace and military fiber optic market.