Aircraft Carrier Market Size, Share & Industry Analysis, By Type (Larger Carriers, Small Carriers, Amphibious ship), By Aircraft Type (Fixed Wing Aircraft, Rotary Wing Aircraft, UAVs), By Technology (Conventional Powered, Nuclear Powered) And Regional Forecast, 2024-2032

An aircraft carrier is a battleship that functions as a seagoing airbase, coupled with a flight deck and facilities for deploying, arming, recovering, and carrying fixed-wing, rotary-wing, and UAV aircraft. The market experiencing significant growth during the forecast period owing to rising territorial disputes among several countries, for example, India, China, the U.S. The defense forces increased their focus on enhancing naval capabilities to have significantly larger dominance overseas. As of January 2020, there are 43 active aircraft carriers present in the sea. These 43 active aircraft carriers are operated by 14 navies.

The growing need to increase naval capacity owing to rising international conflicts between neighboring countries to boost the market growth during the forecast period. The U.S., the U.K., China, Russia, and India largely focusing on expanding naval warfare capabilities to strengthen coastline security. Thus the procurement and development of aircraft carriers are increased in a high growth region. However, the economic slowdown due to COVID-19 to reduce defense spending is expected to hamper the market growth for the short term. Despite, the development of innovative, cost-efficient defense systems to create ample growth opportunities in near future.

Market Segmentation:

Based on type, the aircraft carrier market is segmented into larger carriers, small carriers, and amphibious ships. The market is segmented into fixed-wing aircraft, rotary-wing aircraft, and UAVs, by aircraft type. In terms of technology, the market is bifurcated into conventional powered and nuclear powered. The nuclear-powered segment is expected to dominate the market with a large share in 2019. It is further anticipated to grow at the highest growth rate during the forecast period. This growth is attributing to the rising development of nuclear-powered aircraft carrier to gain higher efficiency and reduced sea pollution.

Key Players Covered:

The major companies included in the global Aircraft Carrier Market report are Lockheed Martin Corporation (The U.S.), BAE Systems PLC (The U.K.), Fincantieri SpA (Italy), General Dynamics Corporation (The U.S.), Huntington Ingalls Industries Inc. (The U.S.), Leonardo SpA (Italy), Navantia (Spain), Northrop Grumman Corporation (The U.S.), Thales Group (France), The Naval Group (France), and among others.

Key Insights

• Number of an aircraft carrier by countries


• An active and planned aircraft carrier


• Government spending by country

Regional Analysis:

The aircraft carrier market is segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and the rest of the world. North America accounted for a major market share in 2019. This share is attributed to the presence of a large number of aircraft carriers in North America. As of 2021, the U.S. government has a total of 11 aircraft carriers. Moreover, the presence of key players involved in the market in the U.S. is further supporting the market growth during the forecast period.

The market in Europe registered the second-largest share in the base year owing to the availability of aircraft carriers in multiple European countries such as Itlay, the U.K., France, and Russia.

Asia Pacific witness strong growth in the market during the forecast period. This growth is attributing to the rising development in the naval sector in China and India. Chinese government has the largest navy sector in the world. The growing defense spending to strengthen naval capacity is anticipating to boost the market growth in Asia Pacific during 2020-2027.

The rest of the world would display sluggish growth during the forecast period owing to the limited defense spending on naval sectors

Segmentation

Aircraft Carrier Market Industry Developments

• In December 2020, Indian government stated its determination to procure a third indigenous aircraft carrier-2 (IAC-2). This aircraft carrier is expected to be an advanced version of INS Vikramaditya. Indian government’s second aircraft carrier INS Vikrant (IAC-1) would join service in 2022 after trails.


• In September 2020, The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy, announced to launch its third aircraft carrier by the end of 2020, or latest by early 2021. The new aircraft carrier offer feature like stealth fighter jets and electromagnetic catapult launch system. It will enable the launch of large attack drones and fixed-wing early-warning aircraft.