From the roaring $857 billion market poised to surpass a trillion dollars to the record-breaking production lines of giants like Airbus and SpaceX, the aerospace and defense industry is soaring at unprecedented altitudes, fueled by geopolitical demands and technological leaps.
Key Takeaways
- The global aerospace and defense market reached $857 billion in revenue in 2023, with a projected CAGR of 5.1% to hit $1.1 trillion by 2028.
- U.S. aerospace and defense industry generated $412 billion in export sales in 2022, accounting for 40% of total U.S. exports.
- Commercial aviation segment of aerospace market valued at $522 billion in 2023, expected to grow at 4.8% annually through 2030.
- Boeing reported $77.8 billion in total revenue for 2023, with defense segment at $25 billion.
- Lockheed Martin achieved $67.6 billion revenue in 2023, up 1.1% YoY.
- RTX (Raytheon) posted $68.9 billion revenue in 2023, with 3% organic growth.
- Boeing delivered 528 commercial airplanes in 2023.
- Airbus delivered 735 commercial aircraft in 2023, a record high.
- Lockheed Martin delivered 148 F-35 jets in 2023 across all variants.
- U.S. aerospace industry employed 2.2 million workers in 2023.
- Boeing workforce stood at 171,000 employees globally in 2023.
- Lockheed Martin had 122,000 employees in 2023, with 64% in U.S.
- Lockheed Martin R&D expenditure was $1.9 billion in 2023.
- Boeing invested $3.2 billion in R&D in 2023.
- Global A&D R&D spending totaled $130 billion in 2023.
The global aerospace and defense industry is a trillion-dollar market experiencing strong growth.
Company Financials
- Boeing reported $77.8 billion in total revenue for 2023, with defense segment at $25 billion.
- Lockheed Martin achieved $67.6 billion revenue in 2023, up 1.1% YoY.
- RTX (Raytheon) posted $68.9 billion revenue in 2023, with 3% organic growth.
- Northrop Grumman revenue hit $39.3 billion in 2023, Aeronautics segment $12.4 billion.
- General Dynamics generated $42.3 billion revenue in 2023, Aerospace at $10.5 billion.
- BAE Systems reported £25.3 billion ($31.8 billion) revenue in 2023.
- Airbus SE revenue reached €65.4 billion in 2023, commercial aircraft €33.8 billion.
- Safran Group revenue was €23.2 billion in 2023, civil aftermarket up 19%.
- L3Harris Technologies revenue $19.4 billion in 2023, up 11%.
- Textron Inc. revenue $13.7 billion in 2023, Bell segment $3.9 billion.
- Honeywell Aerospace revenue $14.2 billion in 2023.
Company Financials Interpretation
While business remains brisk from Seattle to Sunderland, the cold arithmetic of these revenues suggests the industry's profit engine is not merely humming along on commercial travel but is fundamentally turbocharged by the sobering necessity of global defense.
Employment and Workforce
- U.S. aerospace industry employed 2.2 million workers in 2023.
- Boeing workforce stood at 171,000 employees globally in 2023.
- Lockheed Martin had 122,000 employees in 2023, with 64% in U.S.
- RTX employed 185,000 people worldwide in 2023.
- Northrop Grumman workforce totaled 95,000 in 2023.
- Airbus employed 134,000 staff in 2023, 50% in Europe.
- U.S. defense sector supported 1.1 million direct jobs in 2023.
- Aerospace engineering jobs grew 6% YoY in U.S. to 450,000 in 2023.
- Women represented 20% of aerospace workforce in U.S. in 2023.
- Average salary for aerospace engineers in U.S. was $130,720 in 2023.
- UK aerospace sector employed 118,000 people in 2023.
- India aerospace workforce reached 250,000 in 2023, up 15%.
- France A&D industry had 210,000 direct jobs in 2023.
- Skill shortage affected 75% of A&D firms hiring engineers in 2023.
- Veteran employment in U.S. A&D reached 25% of workforce in 2023.
- Global A&D workforce projected to need 2.5 million new skilled workers by 2028 from 2023 levels.
- Raytheon added 5,000 jobs in 2023 due to missile demand.
- SpaceX employed 13,000 people in 2023.
- Aviation Week survey showed 40% of firms planning hiring increases in 2024 from 2023 base.
Employment and Workforce Interpretation
While impressive in scale, the aerospace and defense sector's continued growth in 2023 was tempered by a glaring talent shortage, suggesting the industry is building incredible machines faster than it is building the skilled workforce needed to sustain them.
Government Contracts and Budgets
- U.S. DoD awarded $150 billion in contracts in FY2023.
- F-35 program contract value exceeded $428 billion total through 2023.
- U.S. FY2024 defense budget request $842 billion.
- NATO defense spending totaled $1.3 trillion in 2023.
- UK MoD budget £50.9 billion for 2023/24.
- Boeing KC-46 Pegasus contract $44 billion lifetime.
- Lockheed Orion spacecraft NASA contract $4.6 billion in 2023 increment.
- Raytheon Patriot missile system DoD contracts $15 billion in 2023.
- Northrop B-21 contract valued at $80 billion for 100+ aircraft.
- General Dynamics Virginia-class submarine contracts $100 billion program total.
- France defense budget €43.9 billion in 2023.
- China military spending estimated $292 billion in 2023.
- India MoD procurement budget ₹6.2 trillion ($75 billion) in FY2023.
- Australia AUKUS submarine deal $368 billion over 30 years from 2023.
- U.S. Army Black Hawk contract extensions $7 billion in 2023.
- Space Force GPS III satellite contracts $7.2 billion total through 2023.
- EU defense spending rose to €270 billion in 2023.
- Saudi Arabia F-15 jet deal $29 billion with Boeing in 2023 extensions.
- Ukraine aid package U.S. $61 billion approved in 2024 impacting 2023 contracts.
Government Contracts and Budgets Interpretation
The global defense industry is booming, where a single program's lifetime cost could buy a small country, yet it's simultaneously stretched so thin that nations are essentially sharing a very expensive, high-stakes Netflix password for global security.
Market Size and Growth
- The global aerospace and defense market reached $857 billion in revenue in 2023, with a projected CAGR of 5.1% to hit $1.1 trillion by 2028.
- U.S. aerospace and defense industry generated $412 billion in export sales in 2022, accounting for 40% of total U.S. exports.
- Commercial aviation segment of aerospace market valued at $522 billion in 2023, expected to grow at 4.8% annually through 2030.
- Defense sector within aerospace industry projected to reach $766 billion by 2027, driven by geopolitical tensions.
- European aerospace market size stood at €250 billion in 2022, with 6% growth forecasted for 2024.
- Asia-Pacific aerospace and defense market grew 7.2% YoY in 2023 to $180 billion.
- MRO (Maintenance, Repair, Overhaul) segment valued at $82.3 billion in 2023 globally.
- Space economy portion of aerospace reached $447 billion in 2023, up 7.4% from prior year.
- U.S. A&D market share globally was 42% in 2023, totaling $385 billion.
- Business aviation market size hit $27.5 billion in 2023, with 5.5% CAGR projected to 2030.
- Helicopter market within aerospace valued at $25.6 billion in 2023.
- UAV/drone market in defense reached $16.9 billion in 2023, growing at 13.8% CAGR.
- Global fighter jet market size estimated at $58 billion in 2023.
- Missile and munitions market valued at $72 billion in 2023 globally.
- Satellite manufacturing market hit $15.2 billion in 2023.
- Aerospace electronics market size was $32.4 billion in 2023.
- Engine manufacturing segment reached $95 billion in 2023.
- Air cargo market within aerospace grew to $140 billion in 2023.
- Regional jet market valued at $18.7 billion in 2023.
- Supersonic aircraft market projected at $5.6 billion by 2030 from $2.1 billion in 2023.
Market Size and Growth Interpretation
The aerospace and defense industry, a behemoth soaring toward a trillion dollars, thrives on a simple, ironic duality: we spend staggering sums to connect the world and, with equal fervor, to build the very things that ensure we might one day need to disconnect it.
Production and Deliveries
- Boeing delivered 528 commercial airplanes in 2023.
- Airbus delivered 735 commercial aircraft in 2023, a record high.
- Lockheed Martin delivered 148 F-35 jets in 2023 across all variants.
- Boeing produced 480 737 MAX aircraft in 2023 monthly rate target.
- Northrop Grumman produced 20 B-21 Raider bombers under low-rate initial production in 2023.
- RTX manufactured 1,200+ AMRAAM missiles in 2023.
- Embraer delivered 73 jets in 2023, including 47 E-Jets.
- Bombardier delivered 39 business jets in 2023.
- SpaceX launched 96 Falcon rockets in 2023, deploying 188 Starlink batches.
- Blue Origin produced 10 New Glenn first-stage engines in 2023.
- GE Aviation shipped 1,500 LEAP engines in 2023.
- Pratt & Whitney delivered 450 GTF engines for A320neo in 2023.
- U.S. F-16 production line delivered 12 jets to international customers in 2023.
- Leonardo delivered 110 helicopters in 2023.
- Sikorsky (Lockheed) handed over 50 Black Hawk helicopters in 2023.
- Boeing delivered 72 Apache AH-64E helicopters in 2023.
- Global commercial aircraft production rate targeted 1,400/month by 2025 from 1,000 in 2023.
Production and Deliveries Interpretation
The statistics paint a picture of Earth in 2023 being utterly buried under a mountain of very expensive, meticulously engineered hardware, delivered at a pace that suggests the planet is simultaneously trying to escape itself and become newly armed to the teeth.
R&D Investment
- Lockheed Martin R&D expenditure was $1.9 billion in 2023.
- Boeing invested $3.2 billion in R&D in 2023.
- Global A&D R&D spending totaled $130 billion in 2023.
- U.S. DoD R&D budget request for FY2024 was $145 billion.
- Airbus R&D spend hit €3.2 billion in 2023.
- Northrop Grumman R&D investment $1.1 billion in 2023.
- RTX R&D expenses $2.9 billion in 2023.
- NASA R&D budget for aeronautics was $1.1 billion in FY2023.
- DARPA budget for advanced aerospace tech $4.2 billion in 2023.
- Safran R&D investment €1.6 billion in 2023.
- GE Aerospace R&D spend $2.5 billion in 2023.
- Hypersonic technology R&D funding globally $10 billion in 2023.
- U.S. private space R&D investment reached $15 billion in 2023.
- AI/ML in A&D R&D spend $8.5 billion globally in 2023.
- Sustainable aviation fuel R&D funded $2.3 billion in 2023.
- Quantum tech for aerospace R&D $1.2 billion in 2023.
- Electric propulsion aircraft R&D investment $4.1 billion in 2023.
- Cybersecurity R&D in defense $6.8 billion U.S. in 2023.
- Additive manufacturing R&D in A&D $3.7 billion globally 2023.
R&D Investment Interpretation
This immense cascade of funding, from the colossal rivers of national defense budgets to the ambitious streams of private and corporate R&D, paints a stark and serious portrait of a global industry in a full-throttle race to redefine the boundaries of air, space, and security for the 21st century.
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