Market forecasts converging near the mid‑$30 billion range for electronic warfare by 2032 are not a surprise to anyone tracking procurement cycles, platform refresh programs, and the battlefield demand signal. One widely cited forecast projects the global EW market will grow from roughly $18.3 billion in 2024 to about $36.7 billion by 2032, implying a near double in market size over the next eight years and a multi‑percent compound annual growth rate.
Those headline numbers need context. The primary macro driver is elevated defense spending worldwide. After a decade of increases, global military expenditure jumped again in 2024, pushing national budgets into modernization and capability refresh programs that explicitly fund EW, sensors, and counter‑UAS systems. This fiscal tailwind expands procurement pipelines and shortens acquisition timelines for items like airborne jammers, shipboard self protection suites, ground mobile EW racks, and EW operational support services.
On the product and program side, a lot of the market growth traces to a handful of large, high‑value efforts that move tens or hundreds of millions at a time. Next Generation Jammer programs and related pods, for example, moved from development into serial production and expansion contracts in 2023 and 2024. Those awards demonstrate two things at once: customer willingness to field advanced offensive EW capability on combat aircraft, and the scale of spending that accrues to prime contractors and their supply chains when programs reach production. Expect more mid‑band and wideband airborne jamming buys plus attendant sustainment and software updates.
Tactical demand is another structural engine for growth. Adversary use of low cost drones, coordinated swarms, and increasingly autonomous systems has forced militaries to buy layered responses, from hard kill to electronic defeat. Where jamming used to be a niche add on, it is now a core survivability requirement for ships, tactical aircraft, and ground maneuver units. That demand profile allocates budget across hardware, signal processing software, integration engineering, and training services, broadening the market beyond just classic RF hardware. Reporting from active conflict zones shows rapid iteration in both drone employment and counter‑drone tactics, which keeps procurement cycles and fielding schedules active.
Technology trends matter as well. Vendors are packaging AI and machine learning into signal processing chains to accelerate emitter classification, automate threat responses, and manage dynamic spectral deconfliction in dense environments. Directed energy development, although still immature for some wartime roles, draws investment because of its potential as a precision counter to small drones and incoming munitions. Space and C2 integration work is opening new segments for EW: sensors and sensors’ data fusion services, cyber‑electromagnetic effects interoperability, and platform software lifecycle management are all recurring line items in recent contracts. These technology directions increase the per‑unit value of delivered EW solutions and expand recurring revenue streams for software and sustainment.
What does this mean for industry participants and systems engineers? First, margin pools will favor integrators and firms that control the software and algorithms that sit above commoditized RF front ends. Hardware will still be sold, but the value migrates to digital signal processing, EM modeling, and threat libraries. Second, faster update cycles are normal. Expect more incremental upgrades rather than decade‑long platform refresh timelines, which benefits firms with agile DevSecOps pipelines and modular architectures.
For field operators and procurement planners, the practical takeaway is that capability demand will be measured by how well systems handle multi‑domain signaturing and support distributed operations. Interoperability, frequency agility, and resilient command and control will be procurement differentiators. Investment in test ranges, EW training suites, and realistic live‑fly exercises will grow in lock step with hardware buys.
For hobbyists, researchers, and smaller contractors interested in the space, there are two cautions and one opportunity. The cautions are legal and safety related. Civil RF spectrum is regulated and EW effects can break civilian services and cause safety risks. Do not experiment with jamming or denial systems outside appropriate, permitted test ranges and with proper authorization. The opportunity is in non‑kinetic enabling tech: signal processing toolchains, open‑source emitter classification datasets, RF sensor integration, and cyber‑EM hygiene solutions. These are legal, in demand, and translate well to defense contracting if matched with security clearances and compliance processes.
Bottom line: the projection to roughly $36 billion by 2032 is credible because it maps to observable fiscal pressure, large procurement programs moving into production, and an operational environment that continuously generates tactical need for EW. That combination expands both the number of buyers and the per‑system value, producing a sustained growth runway for companies and engineers able to deliver modular, software‑driven, and legally compliant EW capabilities.