The principal aim of this report is to describe in detail how “NATO” countries (either with or without the USA) may become sufficiently well equipped to rapidly achieve air superiority or even air supremacy in any future conflict.
Toward this aim the report is organized into the following five parts:
Part 1 The “North Atlantic” Scenario
Part 2 Electronic Warfare (EW), Military Radars & 'Stealth' Technology
Part 3 Major Tier 1 Corporate Players: Europe, Israel & the USA
Part 4 So where are we Now?
Part 5 Selected Companies Manufacturing Module-Level RF Products
Part 1 provides an overview of some current conflicts: including the Middle East and the Ukraine. Financial contributions toward NATO are cited for each out of a selection of NATO member countries (2023) and for what we are terming “New NATO” (without the USA – circa year 2030). Overall expenditure on EW and radars are presented.
Part 2 has detailed descriptions of EW technology (including jammers), military radars (AESA and “non-AESA) – and “stealth” technology. The Supply Chain is presented and discussed. Everything in Part 2 is required to support material presented in subsequent Parts of this report.
Part 3 provides company profiles and commentaries on a selection of 15 major Tier 1 corporations variously headquartered in Europe, Israel and the USA. This is a very important part of the report because of the impact of these corporations on Europe's capacity to fight in any military theater. Details are provided regarding each corporations presence in Europe (including the UK).
Part 4 is the most important Part of this report. At the time of writing there is a noticeable shift of emphasis causing an increased focus on European defence.
In Part 1 above the concept of a “New NATO” is introduced and maybe this could lead toward a picture of the future European defence structure.
The concepts of “air superiority” or even “air supremacy” remain absolutely key and toward this manned aircraft, drones (UAS, UAV) and missiles are all required. Turning to manned aircraft (mainly combat – fighters) the vital importance of the F-35 is covered in detail. Information is also provided on other combat aircraft including France's Rafale and Sweden's Gripen. More advanced fighters will not be ready until the 2030s. Within this Part 4 we also provide information concerning:
Directed Energy Weapons (DEW – laser-based and RF/microwave-based); Hypersonic Glide Vehicles (HGVs).
Both are very important in the context of current and prospectively future military scenarios.
Part 5 rounds off the sequence of Parts of this report. In this Part there are brief company profiles and commentaries on a selection of 10 “Tier 2” manufacturers of module-level RF products. Most are headquartered in the USA. Where possible representation and distribution in European countries is included within each profile.
A sequence of Annexes provide details regarding Air Power in various regions, including China, Russia, Europe and the USA. In each instance the following classes of air power vehicle are included:
Fighter/bomber aircraft; Drones (including UAS, UAV, UCAV); Missiles Drones (including UAS, UAV, UCAV); Missiles.
- About the Author
- Overall Plan of this Report
- Executive Summary
- ES.1 Some Global Aspects
- ES.2 Some Fundamental Technological Requirements
- ES.3 The Threats
- ES.4 Impacts on Western Air Power: Status and Requirements
- ES.5 Establishing & Maintaining Air Superiority
- ES.6 Systems-Level Equipment and Microwave Module Suppliers
- ES.7 Directed Energy Weapons (DEW)
- ES.8 Supply Chains: from Electronics to Major Systems Including Aircraft
- Part 1 The “North Atlantic” Defense Scenario
- 1.1 Introduction
- 1.2 Some Global Aspects
- 1.3 Updates on (Mainly) Selected NATO Countries
- 1.4 Speculated 2030 Situation
- Part 2 Electronic Warfare (EW), Military Radars & 'Stealth' Technology
- 2.1 EW Systems
- 2.2 Military Radar Systems
- 2.3 An outline of “Stealth” Technology
- 2.4 The F-35 Stealth (Manned) Fighter Aircraft
- 2.5 Supply Chains: from Electronics to Major Systems Including Aircraft
- Part 3 Major Tier 1 Corporate Players: Europe, Israel & the USA
- 3.1 Airbus
- 3.2 BAE Systems
- 3.3 Boeing
- 3.4 Elbit Systems
- 3.5 Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI)
- 3.6 Kratos Defense and Security Solutions
- 3.7 L3Harris Technologies
- 3.8 Leonardo
- 3.9 Lockheed-Martin
- 3.10 Northrop Grumman
- 3.11 Rafael Advanced Defense Systems (“Rafael”)
- 3.12 RTX Corporation (including Raytheon)
- 3.13 Teledyne
- 3.14 Thales Group
- 3.15 MBDA
- Part 4 So where are we Now?
- 4.1 The current (2025) and near-future situation
- 4.2 Current Military Air Power: USA and Europe
- USA.
- European countries reported on:
- Belgium, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary,
- Italy, Lithuania, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania,
- Switzerland, United Kingdom
- Also: The European Sky Shield Initiative (ESSI)
- 4.3 Current Military Air Power: China and Russia (the Threats)
- 4.4 Establishing & Maintaining Air Superiority
- 4.5 Directed Energy Weapons (DEW)
- 4.6 Hypersonic Glide Vehicles (HGV)
- Part 5 Selected Companies Manufacturing Module-Level RF Products
- 5.1 Analog Devices
- 5.2 Communications and Power Industries (CPI)
- 5.3 Genmix Technology Co. Ltd.
- 5.4 MACOM
- 5.5 Mercury Systems
- 5.6 MtronPTI
- 5.7 Narda-MITEQ
- 5.8 Qorvo
- 5.9 Stellant Systems
- 5.10 WAVICE
- Annex 1 Air Power USA: Manned Aircraft
- Annex 1 Air Power USA (2): Drones (UAVs, UCAVs)
- Annex 1 USA Air Power USA (3): Missiles
- Annex 2 Air Power Europe (1): Current (2025) Status of Selected European Countries
- Annex 3 Air Power China: Threat I – Manned Aircraft
- Including Tables of Chinese Drones and Missiles
- Annex 4 Air Power Russia: Threat II. Manned Aircraft
- Including Tables of Russian Drones and Missiles
- List of Figures
- Figure ES.1 Elbit Systems Regional Sales Distribution
- Figure 1.1 Block Diagram of a Typical “non-AESA” Radar System
- Figure 3.1 Main Divisions of Airbus (with proportions of annual sales)
- Figure 3.2 Subdivisions of Airbus' Defense & Space
- Figure 3.3 Elbit Systems Regional Sales Distribution
- Figure 3.4 KGS Revenue Breakdown for Year 2023 ($M)
- Figure 3.5 KGS Unmanned Systems Revenue Breakdown for Year 2023 ($M)
- Figure 3.6 Leonardo: Proportions of International Sales for Year 2023 (%)
- Figure 3.7 Northrop Grumman Main Divisions: Annual Sales, 2024 ($B)
- Figure 3.8 RTX Companies' Segmentations ($B)
- Figure 3.9 Segmentation of Teledyne's Major Business Segments (%)
- Figure 3.10 Major Divisions of Thales Group (% total revenues)
- Figure 4.1 Schematic of Co-located Trucks Carrying (i) the DEW system and (ii) the tracking Radar System
- List of Tables
- Table ES-1 Main Data (2030) Concerning Selected Countries (“New NATO”*)
- Table ES-2 Numbers of Occasions on which Terms Occur
- Table ES-3 Fighter Aircraft Available to “Europe” - Time-Lines
- Table ES-4 Outline: Company Annual Revenues and Profits for 2023 and 2024
- Table 1.1 Defense Data (2023) Concerning Selected Countries (NATO plus Israel)
- Table 1.2 Main Data (2030) Concerning Selected Countries (“New NATO”*)
- Table 3-N XXXs Company Annual Revenues and Profits for 2023 and 2024
- Table 3-1 Airbus’ Annual Revenues and Profits for 2023 and 2024
- Table 3-2 Airbus’ D&S Annual Revenues and Profits for 2022 and 2023
- Table 3-3 BAE Systems Annual Revenues and Profits for 2023 and 2024
- Table 3-4 Boeing Annual Revenues and Profits (Losses) for 2023 and 2024
- Table 3-5 Boeing BDS Division Annual Revenues for 2022 and 2023
- Table 3-6 Elbit Systems’ Annual Revenues for 2022 and 2023
- Table 3-7 Kratos Defense and Security Solutions
- Table 3-8 Kratos Defense and Security Solutions Revenues ($M)
- Table 3-9 L3Harris Technologies’ Annual Revenues for 2023 and 2024 ($B)
- Table 3-10 Leonardo’s Main Financials for Years 2023 and 2024
- Table 3-11 Lockheed-Martin’s Annual Revenues and Profits for 2023 and 2024
- Table 3-12 Northrop Grumman’s Annual Revenues and Profits for 2023 and 2024
- Table 3-13 RTX Corporation’s Annual Revenues and Profits for 2023 and 2024
- Table 3-14 Teledyne’s Annual Revenues and Profits for 2022 and 2023
- Table 3-15 Thales Group’s Annual Revenues and Profits for 2023 and 2024
- Table 4-1 Numbers of Occasions on which Various 'Air Power' Terms Occur
- Table 4-2 Fighter Aircraft Available to “Europe” - Time-Lines
- Table 4-3 Status of F-35 Aircraft for Selected NATO Countries (Spring 2025)
- Table 4-4 Selected DEWs Currently Available or under Advanced Development
- Table 4-5 Examples of HGVs
- Table A1-1 Manned Aircraft (USA)
- Table A1-2 USA Drones
- Table A1-3 USA Missiles
- Table A2 Current (2025) Air Power Status of Selected European Countries
- Table C1-1 Manned Aircraft: Army Air Force (China)
- Table C1-2 China Manned Aircraft: Army Naval Force and Ground Force
- Table C1-3 China: Drones
- Table C1-4 China: Missiles
- Table D1-1 Russian Manned Aircraft: Air Force & Navy
- Table D1-2 Russian Drones
- Table D1-3 Russian Missiles
- Table E General Abbreviations Regarding Classes of Missiles
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