Market and Technology Trends

RF for Defense 2026

Jun 2026

The defense RF device market nearly doubles in 2031: legacy radar/EW remains prime-driven, while drones and C-UAS disrupt the ecosystem with rapid production cycles, price-led architectures, and a more fragmented supplier base.

YINTR26574

Scope

Depth analysis

Sub-system
RF Module
RF device
IC/Device

Technology

Radar & EW
Drone, C-UAS
RFFE
PA, LNA, Switch
GaN, GaAs, SOI, SiGe
SAW/BAW

Defense spending is accelerating in 2026, reflecting a worsening geopolitical environment worldwide. RF remains a core enabler, while supply chains shift toward domestic resilience. Drones and counter-UAS are changing demand patterns, driving faster cycles and higher volumes while exerting stronger cost pressure. The defense RF market is expected to grow at a double-digit CAGR through 2031, exceeding $2.8B.

The US drives the largest share of global defense spending, which strongly shapes the RF supply chain: Qorvo, Macom, and vertically integrated Defense primes account for more than half of the market. Legacy radar/EW ecosystems are relatively stable, with established relationships between primes, subsystem makers, and device vendors. In contrast, drones are attracting new entrants from telecom and consumer backgrounds, with more dedicated drone-focused RF solutions emerging.

Defense RF applications span a very wide frequency range and, in many cases, requires high output power. This combination keeps GaAs and GaN at the core of the segment, with most value concentrated in the final PA and T/R modules.

By contrast, the drone segment largely relies on existing solutions from adjacent markets (Wi-Fi and telecom) today, given how quickly demand has ramped up. As volumes grow and requirements diversify, more drone-specific RF solutions are expected to emerge, creating opportunities for suppliers offering configurable, adaptable architectures and higher levels of integration.

Product Objectives

Provide an overview of the RF market in defense equipment and applications
- Market size and forecast by end-defense system type, RF function, and technology
- Forecasts by units and revenue
- Explain the difference in market dynamics between legacy RF defense applications (radar, EW) and emerging applications driven by drones and counter-drones
Explain the key market trends and drivers
- Radars and EW: power levels, frequency bands, and RF content per system
- Drones: classes by range/size, demand dynamics, and implied RF content
- C-UAS: how drone adoption drives demand and the RF-relevant system types
Provide an in-depth view of the competitive ecosystem
- Positioning of end-system makers, RF subsystem suppliers, and RF device makers
- Market shares and competitive landscape
- Regional dynamics across the USA, Europe, and China
Assess RF front-end technologies and cost structure
- Current and emerging RF front-end components (PAs, switches, LNAs)
- BOM comparison across segments and requirements
- Technology trends across GaAs, GaN-on-Si, GaN-on-SiC, SOI, and SiGe

Defense RF is scaling from a $1.5B device market in 2025 to ~$2.8B by 2031

The defense RF device market is estimated at $1.5B in 2025 and is expected to reach ~$2.8B by 2031, representing a ~11% CAGR. This growth is supported by a broader defense RF systems market, including radars, jamming and warning receiver systems, estimated at ~$50B in 2024 and ~$55B in 2025.

Legacy radars, jammers and warning receivers remain the largest demand base, accounting for ~74% of defense RF device value in 2025. Growth is driven by fleet modernization, replacement of older systems and sovereignty-driven procurement. GaAs and GaN technologies are central to value creation.

A second growth engine is emerging from drones and counter-UAS. Drone production has reached million-unit scale in 2025 and is expected to expand sharply over the forecast period, creating demand for faster design cycles, higher-volume RF architectures and more cost-sensitive solutions.

Counter-UAS is one of the fastest-growing RF application layers. The counter-drone RF device market is estimated at ~$220M in 2025 and is expected to exceed $700M by 2031, driven by RF jammers, detectors and phased-array radar architectures.

Defense RF combines sovereign system primes with a concentrated RF device layer

The defense RF device market is more concentrated than the RF systems market, with US suppliers holding >60%, led by Qorvo, MACOM, Northrop Grumman and Raytheon. Europe is represented by UMS and Ampleon, China by CETC, while RFHIC, Mitsubishi Electric and Toshiba together account for ~10%.

Legacy radar and EW demand is driven by major system players such as Raytheon, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Thales, CETC, Leonardo, Saab, BAE Systems, L3Harris, Elbit Systems and Hensoldt.

Drone and counter-drone demand adds a faster-moving RF layer. Main drone players include Anduril, AeroVironment, Skydio, Red Cat and Baykar. Counter-UAS players include Dedrone, DroneShield, Robin Radar, APS and Echodyne, alongside many smaller emerging suppliers.

Phased-array radars drive TRM architectures, while drones reuse Wi-Fi/telecom RFFE

Defense RF architectures are increasingly shaped by phased arrays, pushing RF front ends into distributed T/R modules where the power chain (final PA + driver/pre-driver, discrete or MMIC) dominates BOM/value. At sub-GHz/L-band, long-range radars favor discrete high-power PAs (typically ~100–500 W peak and even higher) mainly in GaN-on-SiC, with LDMOS still used in some designs; TWTs remain for >1 kW single-antenna needs. At X/Ku-band, per-channel power drops (~10–30 W) and MMICs dominate, with GaN vs GaAs selection driven by power and bandwidth.

C-UAS is the fastest-shifting segment, expanding RF-based detection and mitigation (jammers/CoRF, passive RF detection, and radar), while real-world constraints drive multi-sensor stacks (RF + radar + EO/IR + acoustic) and more software-led fusion/AI/C2.

In drones, RF still largely reuses Wi-Fi/telecom solutions: control/telemetry typically operates at 400 MHz, 900 MHz, or 2.4 GHz, while higher-throughput payload links often use 5.8 GHz. Increasing anti-jam and anti-spoofing requirements are pushing broadband sub-6 GHz support and SDR-enabled architectures, raising demand for more configurable, wideband RF front ends. At low power levels, GaAs PAs and SOI switches/LNAs remain common. As power requirements increase (above ~40 W), architectures increasingly resemble telecom-style designs, with GaN becoming more relevant.

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