Extract from the ISR Special Report 2009 now available for FREE

North America has the greatest concentration of Intelligence, Surveillance & Reconnaissance (ISR) operations with a 42% share of the global market representing a total of 857 active aircraft, Europe and Asia-Pacific follow with 27% and 19% respectively. In terms of role, both maritime patrol and reconnaissance dominate the world market, combined this equates to a share of 67% with active aircraft totalling 1,351.

The most widely used ISR aircraft is the Lockheed P-3 Orion with a 20% global share, amounting to a total of 397 aircraft in active service. The P-3 is primarily used in a maritime patrol role but is also used for electronic warfare, reconnaissance and weather reconnaissance.

Within the AEW sector, the Gulfstream G550 clearly has the youngest average age of two years and similarly in the electronic warfare sector the new F-18’s feature with an average age of just 0.3 years. At the opposite end of the spectrum the elder statesmen include the C-130 (communication aircraft), the C-135 (reconnaissance), P-3 (AEW) and Falcon (electronic warfare) who all average beyond 40 years.

ISR Excerpt 1 (world)

ISR Report 2009

The ISR Special Report 2009 provides a snapshot of the active Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) market by geographic region and role.

The report also features the current major unmanned military platforms and is available to download for FREE

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Source: FlightGlobal.com