Technology Core Report: Loitering Munitions 2025

The Loitering Munitions industry landscape has been fragmented significantly by geopolitical events and the demands, resources, and timelines the relevant developers and end-users are operating to. For the first time since the post-Cold War peace dividend period of the 1990s onwards, very large scale as well as the characteristic of scalability are critical factors. The Major Powers, and thus major markets, have divergent factors and thus differing markets and industrial environments for Loitering Munitions.

This report covers the various capabilities this munition type fills, as well as the emerging new roles for these systems. The emerging technologies enabling these capabilities are analysed, as they are key to understand in this value chain and sector. This comprehensive report is presented in structured text analysis, charts, graphics, and tables, allowing the expert analysis to be rapidly found and consumed. The global loitering munitions industry and demand are covered in this analysis, with key insights to the future of this technology and industry. Market forces, geopolitics, trends, legislation, emerging technologies, counters, macroeconomic factors, technology restraints, and system symbiosis are all analysed in detail. The report covers the industry in detail, provides an analysis of programs as well as capabilities, and provides the industrial landscape through value chain analysis as well as naming and covering the involved entities, companies, and organizations.

The Loitering Munition Thematic Report provides a detailed expert analysis of the Loitering  Munitions story, and the current landscape. This report charts the current landscape and the future of these munitions, providing an invaluable investor guide as well as a critical guide for mapping the industry for industry insiders. It covers the technological developments, the industry break down, key players, emerging players, legislation, capability gaps, and future opportunities. With a detailed study of the industry and supply chain, and an overview of the global market and global developments in this area, tis reports provides a comprehensive view of loitering munitions and their use, as well s charting the future and all the related opportunities. 

Through analysis, charts, graphics, and tables, this entire industry and capability is mapped and explained, with program analysis and capability analysis with capability gaps identified.

Modern Loitering Munitions have been in use for close to half a century at the time of writing, having the Anti-Radiation Munition (ARM) role at the heart of their genesis. Inherent to the original primary role of Suppression of Enemy Air Defences or Destruction of Enemy Air Defences (SEAD and DEAD) was the anti-radiation seeker, whereby the target would by necessity provide the radiation for the munition to detect and home in on. As a natural evolution, the munitions, their roles, and their method of operation have expanded significantly. The loitering requirement (or ability) in the SEAD and DEAD roles, where the munition would typically loiter in order to home in on the RADARs associated with the air defence system provides the salient characteristic of the munition type. 

Loitering Munitions cover a broad spectrum of capabilities, and a broad range of price points. Loitering Munitions have benefitted from the explosive proliferation of Unmanned Systems (”drones”), with the types having significant overlap in a number of areas, including deployment, development, and value chains. The greatest enabler has been vast commercial proliferation with the majority of components being dual use.  Current wars, the rise of commercial and military drones, and the maturation of technologies, production, and deployment models have all driven development in this area, and in related areas. Related areas often confused with Loitering Munitions include Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV), Unmanned Surface Vehicles (USV), Unmanned Ground Vehicles (UGV), Unmanned Underwater Vehicles (UUV), Cruise Missiles, Precision Guided Munitions (PGM), and the category of First Person View (FPV) drones (with or without munitions, aka “kamikaze drones”) amongst others.  All of these areas are in significant growth, but differ in key areas, though there is some overlap and a lot of commonality.

Key drivers for the Loitering Munitions market and development including massive proliferation, PGM utility at a lowered cost, use of Commercial Off The Shelf (COTS) parts, extended range and Non Line Of Sight (NLOS) capability, Reconnaissance, and Target Acquisition (ISTAR) capabilities, a rapidly contracted Observe Orient Decide Act (OODA) loop, a much shorter and simpler Kill Chain, and presents a high sensor concentration and a rapid, closed, and local Sensor To Shooter (STS) cycle. A number of specific events and reasons have accelerated loitering Munition growth and proliferation in recent years, some of these covered in this report:

The widely discussed global shell shortage has seen Loitering Munitions deployed in roles to compensate for shell shortage in a number of localised areas and time periods. A further UCAV shortage has had the same effect. The rapid accelerated sensor to shooter requirement in Ukraine has seen Loitering Munitions fill numerous other roles, such as counter battery fire, as well as SEAD, DEAD, and Close Air Support Roles. The protracted near peer conflict in Ukraine has also seen unprecedented levels of ground to air activity, forcing expedients and alternative solutions such as Loitering Munitions use. 

A number of key strategic events have fragmented the value chain, supply chain, and  as well as hugely expanded the market place for these munitions.