Frost & Sullivan: U.S. DoD C4ISR Spending to Remain Stable

Nov. 11, 2011 - PRLog -- MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. – Nov. 11, 2011 – The wars and nation-building activities in Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Yemen and other U.S. commitments around the world drive collaboration and responsive command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (C4ISR). The major factors triggering C4ISR spending are current deployments and future counter-terror operations. C4ISR funding will remain stable with robust growth restricted to applications that have direct relevance to counter-insurgency/terror operations.

The focus will be on intelligence and special operations repair, maintenance, training, information assurance and operational services. The DoD is implementing the ‘should cost’ metrics by estimating a strategy to make projected program costs more realistic and help ensure projects fit into the budget. Upgrades to neglected ‘conventional’ capabilities require investments. Mature commercial off the shelf (COTS) technologies have been adopted for use in many segments of military technology as cost savings, faster fielding times and ease of upgrades are priorities.

New analysis from Frost & Sullivan U.S. DoD C4ISR Markets, finds that the U.S. DoD requests a budget of $43.82 billion for its C4ISR operations and will remain stable through 2016. C4ISR spending will account for 6.5 percent of the total DoD budget.

“C4ISR services such as: language and cultural skills, engineering, integration, project management and coalition partnering applications are in high demand,” says Frost & Sullivan Research Analyst Brad Curran. “Surveillance and reconnaissance (S&R) is also receiving vigorous funding as unmanned vehicles and improved sensors are deployed, new units are built and existing unit test and equipment (TEs) are expanded.”

On the other hand, the spending on research, development, test and evaluation (RDT&E) will be reduced. As export controls constrain international sales, commercial and foreign competition is growing. With fewer platforms available, future buyers will look away from high-end platforms toward proven and reliable designs that afford maximum flexibility.

An analysis of the funding by segment reflects an attempt to rebalance technical sensors/collection with less expensive but vital analysis and other ‘people’ skills required for successful military operations. Also, cost and schedule overruns that have been a routine part of the acquisition system will come under increasing scrutiny. Some projects will be superseded by interim solutions.

Electronic warfare and information operations activities are expected to have the fastest growth rate through 2016. Open source information (OSINT) and human intelligence (HUMINT) are the key enablers for successful counter-terror/insurgency warfare.

“Going forward, the emphasis will be on multi-purpose technologies that fuse various collection disciplines and standardize reporting,” says Curran. “Processing and dissemination of full-motion video will continue to be an area of robust growth.”

If you are interested in a virtual brochure on this study, please send an email to Sarah Saatzer, Corporate Communications, at sarah.saatzer@frost.com, with your full name, company name, job title, telephone number, company email address, company website, city, state and country.

U.S. DoD C4ISR Markets is part of the Defense Growth Partnership Service program, which also includes research in the following markets: Electronic Warfare, Airborne ISR, Datalinks. All research services included in subscriptions provide detailed market opportunities and industry trends that have been evaluated following extensive interviews with market participants.

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U.S. DoD C4ISR Markets
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Contact:
Sarah Saatzer
Corporate Communications – North America
P: 210.477.8427
E: sarah.saatzer@frost.com

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