Simulators Market Size, Share & Trends

By solution, the services segment is projected to account for a larger share than the products segment during the forecast period.

The services segment is projected to dominate the simulators market during the forecast period as there is a growing transition from hardware purchases to long-term training solutions, support agreements, and performance-based logistics. As simulation systems become increasingly complex and digitally networked, end users—particularly in defense and commercial aviation—are coming to rely more and more on OEMs and third-party suppliers not only for simulator delivery but also for lifecycle services, such as operations, maintenance, upgrades, software updates, scenario development, and instructor support.

In the military domain, the sector opts for simulation-as-a-service (SaaS) or contractor-owned, contractor-operated (COCO) arrangements that enable flexible, on-demand training without an in-house management burden. Governments, too, are farm-outing training delivery to expert firms, minimizing internal training infrastructure while guaranteeing performance through multi-year service contracts. This movement is apparent in initiatives, such as the US Air Force’s Pilot Training Next (PTN) and comparable turnkey training programs in Europe and the Middle East.

In commercial aviation, flight schools and airlines are embracing wet lease configurations—simulator time, instructors, and maintenance in a package—where cost predictability and scalability for fleets and locations are made possible. With increasing pilot demand and recurrent training requirements, device certification, compliance management, and cloud-based training analytics are central to simulator value delivery.

Simulator OEMs prioritize high-margin services revenue, providing software tailoring, digital twin refreshes, cyber-hardening, and data analytics platforms to drive the operational usefulness of their systems beyond initial delivery. Since buyers are looking for cost savings, flexibility, and quick capability enhancements, the service component will continue to exceed hardware growth, proving to be the most dynamic and long-term revenue source in the simulators market.

By platform, the air segment is projected to account for the largest share during the forecast period.

The air segment is projected to account for the largest share of the simulators market largely due to the unique reliance of air simulators on high-fidelity, regulation-driven training facilities. Commercial and military flying demands pilots and aircrew to learn sophisticated systems, high-speed flight maneuvers, and emergency procedures to tight safety and operational standards. This renders simulation essential for basic training, recurrent certification, and advanced mission rehearsal.

In civil aviation, airlines must train pilots across different aircraft types, transitions, and route-specific situations. Each new delivery of narrow-body or wide-body aircraft requires a corresponding increase in pilot simulator hours because aircrews must be certified before flying real flights. In contrast to land or sea operations, flight safety procedures require intense simulation of unusual but essential situations like engine failure, extreme turbulence, and emergency landings, which cannot be simulated in actual flight.

Military-wise, air forces use simulators to simulate combat missions, electronic warfare, night flight, and joint-force operations. Simulators also facilitate adequate budget and fleet asset usage by minimizing wear on expensive aircraft and reducing operations risk in training. Further, improvements in avionics, automation, and fly-by-wire technology have created a heightened requirement for type-specific training facilities, thereby driving the demand for simulators in the air sector. With the ongoing worldwide growth of airline networks, upgrade of air fleets, and increasing focus on safety and readiness for missions, the air segment continues to hold a structural and technological advantage—placing it firmly as the prime contributor to the overall simulator market.

By air platform, the military segment is projected to dominate the market during the forecast period.

The military segment is projected to dominate the market because of its extensive mission scope, intensive training demand, and continued investment in mission readiness in the air, land, naval, and space domains. Civil training has a much narrower range of applications than military simulation, covering combat maneuvering, weapon deployment, cyber defense, multi-domain operations, electronic warfare, logistics coordination, and command staff exercises. All these environments are mission-specific immersive and frequently classified as simulation environments.

Defense agencies place importance on simulators to reduce the risks, expenses, and logistical hurdles of live training. Flying combat aircraft, MBTs, or naval destroyers entails enormous costs and safety limitations, so synthetic environments become imperative for training individuals at volume without sacrificing combat assets. Simulator-based teaching offers 30% to 60% of the total hours of training in most military forces, especially for pilots of aircraft, submarines, and simulators. Additionally, military simulation programs are funded through multi-year defense budgets, which facilitate long-term procurement and upgrade cycles. Contemporary armed forces are increasingly investing in synthetic training environments (STEs) and joint-force simulation platforms that support real-time, cross-domain exercising of air, sea, land, and space assets. These systems are employed for frontline training and war-gaming, doctrine testing, and interoperability validation within alliances such as NATO. With defense modernization speeding up worldwide and threats emerging on both physical and virtual fronts, the military segment requires more varied, scalable, and sophisticated simulators than any other industry.