Aerospace and Defence

Overview

The Aerospace and Defence industrial ecosystem (ASD) is a highly heterogeneous ecosystem with diverse technological, entrepreneurial and innovation profiles. Its sub-industries include Aeronautics, Space, and Defence. The Aeronautics industry develops and manufactures civil and military aircrafts, helicopters, drones, aero-engines and other systems and equipment. The Space industry designs, develops, and integrates space systems such as launchers, spacecrafts, ground segment, and provides related engineering services and performs tests. The Defence industry develops military and security applications, technologies, systems, communication and information platforms.

This ecosystem’s core manufacturers generated a turnover of EUR 250 billion (125 for aeronautics, 12 for space and 110 for defence), with globally competitive companies. Its complex supply chains are composed of large system operators and integrators down to high-tech specialised SMEs. In defence, and partly space, EU Member States define the needs and act as the primary customers for a wide range of products. European technology institutes and academia play a particularly important role in this ecosystem due to its high-tech nature, and act as knowledge transfer channels.

The European Monitor of Industrial Ecosystems (EMI) project has produced its first yearly report on the Aerospace and Defence ecosystem, highlighting data on its progress in terms of its green and digital transition across several dimensions, including industrial performance, environmental impact, technology generation and uptake, start-up trends, investments and funding, and skills. The report will be made available soon.

The data collected and used for this report is also shared in the data package below, relating to the abovementioned dimensions. Wherever possible, the data package allows for time series analyses, as well as comparisons among industrial ecosystems, Member States, and between the EU and other major economies such as the US and China.

Overview

Download the data package