Waveguide Components and Assemblies Market Size, Share, Industry Report

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Waveguide components and assemblies are used to guide and control high-frequency electromagnetic waves, particularly in microwave and millimeter-wave systems. These include waveguides (rectangular, circular, or dielectric structures) and components like couplers, attenuators, filters, and isolators, which help in efficient signal transmission. Commonly applied in telecommunications, radar systems, satellite communication, and medical devices, waveguide assemblies integrate multiple components to direct waves with minimal loss and interference.

Waveguide Components and Assemblies Market Size & Growth

[201 Pages Report] The Global Waveguide Components and Assemblies Market Size was valued at USD 1.3 billion in 2022 and is estimated to reach USD 1.6 billion by 2027, growing at a CAGR of 4.8% during the forecast period. The market exhibits lucrative growth potential during the forecast period primarily due to the advancements in radar technologies, increased demand for microwave devices in electronic warfare systems and increasing launches of satellites and space exploration missions. Nevertheless, the requirement for new-generation warfare systems and demand for high-rate data transmission, to open several growth opportunities for Waveguide Components and Assemblies Industry during the forecast period.

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COVID-19 Impact on the Waveguide Components and Assemblies

The COVID-19 pandemic has not had uniform effects across the world in terms of absolute infection numbers and their trajectory. However, the pandemic is likely to negatively affect conflict dynamics in short to medium term through its detrimental and asymmetric economic impact on middle and particularly low-income countries. This comes about partly because of local restrictions, but more importantly, due to falling demands for key exports from high-income countries. For instance, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the EU economy is expected to have suffered a historic recession between 2020 and 2021, wherein the economy of the member countries was expected to shrink by 7.5% on average. Though the European Commission projected the size of most EU member state economies to reach pre-pandemic levels in 2022 or 2023, there were minimal to no defense spending cuts, with major economies worldwide expressing their commitment to protecting military spending. However, R&D expenditure declined, and technological advancement was stuttered during the pandemic. Furthermore, the imposition of lockdown in key countries impacted the global supply chain. It resulted in a widespread and acute shortage of microchips and other essential components integral to the waveguide assemblies, increasing costs and timelines for critical projects.

Waveguide Components and Assemblies Market Trends

Driver: Advancements in  radar technologies driving demand for waveguide components

In radar, a waveguide transfers radiofrequency energy to and fro the antenna, where the impedance needs to be matched for efficient power transmission. Advancements in radar technologies, including software-defined radars and digital components, drive the demand for military radars. Advanced radars with track-while-scan capabilities have enabled militaries to acquire additional targets while maintaining an overall view of the airspace to maintain situational awareness. Track-while-scan radars enable fighter aircraft, combat ships, and armored fighting vehicles to detect the presence of enemies, incoming missiles, and other such threats while tracking a particular target.

The use of digital signal processors (DSP) and solid-state amplifiers and transmitters has enabled radars to last longer, offer a higher output to power ratio, and maintain a relatively small form factor. The development of active electronically scanned arrays has made the development of 3D radars possible, which, in turn, is driving the demand for radars in the defense sector.

Developments in solid-state electronics, such as Gallium Nitride (GaN), have led to a new generation of Advanced Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radars. These radars have higher target detection capabilities and the ability to track multiple targets. They also have a longer range and multi-function capabilities than the previous vacuum-tube-based radars. These capabilities have led to their large-scale adoption, with obsolete TWT and klystron-based radars replaced by these new systems. Various countries, such as India, Russia, and China, are developing new AESA radars for aerial, naval, and land-based platforms. For instance, Russia has developed the Zhuk Phazotron AE radar for use in MiG-35 aircraft, which is an upgraded variant of the MiG-29. India has also upgraded its fleet of Jaguar fighter aircraft with new ELM-2052 AESA radars from Israel. With waveguides being crucial for ensuring the functionality of military radars, a surge in demand for military radars is anticipated to drive the volumes of waveguides required to be integrated into such systems, thereby driving the waveguide components and assemblies market during the forecast period.

Restraints: Issues associated with poor transmission of signals in space-based applications

A satellite requires sensors to measure its current orientation or attitude, which is executed using RF interferometry, Earth sensing, or star tracking. End-use subsystems supported through waveguide assemblies, such as antennas, are typically passive devices, and they primarily focus on the available transmitted or received signal energy. For instance, a typical ground station communications transmitter with an output of 100 watts feeding through an antenna with a gain of 60 dB is expected to have an equivalent isotopically radiated power (EIRP) in the direction of the main antenna beam of 80 dBW or more.

The Van Allen radiation belt is a region of high-energy charged particles moving at speeds close to the speed of light that encircles the Earth. This can shorten the life of a satellite or spacecraft by damaging integrated circuits and sensors, resulting in poor quality of transmission. Thus, issues associated with poor transmission of signals act as a restraint to the growth of the end-use systems, thereby deleteriously affecting the prospects of the waveguide components and assemblies market.

Opportunities: Requirement for new-generation warfare systems

The development of new-generation missiles with high-end technologies is a major threat to strategic locations and platforms, such as military airbases and ships. Some of these new developments include nuclear-capable ballistic missiles and high-speed cruise missiles. Nuclear ballistic missiles can destroy various cities and lives. Various nations are developing advanced weapons capable of defeating high-end air defense systems such as the Medium Extended Air Defense System (MEADS), Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3), and S-400. Countries such as India, China, and Russia have developed hypersonic missiles that are difficult to intercept for missile shields. India and Russia have jointly developed the BrahMos missile, which is difficult to intercept by older missile defense shields. These developments have led to the requirement for new-generation high-speed air defense radar systems.

There is an increasing demand for technologically advanced warfare systems from the defense forces. Governments worldwide are focusing on the development of stealth aircraft, but, at the same time, they are also investing heavily in advanced surveillance systems to counter stealth technology.

Several types of research have been undertaken on technologies such as quantum radars and their use for surveillance. According to an article published by China Daily in September 2018, quantum radars transmit subatomic particles instead of radio waves when searching for targets. They are not affected by radar-absorbent materials and low-signature designs. Traditional radar-jamming tactics cannot deceive these radars and can be adopted in future missile defense and space exploration. The development of sophisticated radar systems is also anticipated to encourage the R&D of waveguide components with enhanced performance capabilities and protection against advanced countermeasures.

Challenges: Adherence to stringent regulatory framework

Manufacturers of waveguide components and assemblies that supply their products to the defense integrators are required to comply with various rules and regulations laid down by their respective governments related to the sale of products and services. Non-compliance with regulations could result in severe consequences, including the imposition of fines and penalties, termination of contracts, and civil or criminal investigations. The respective governments impose various sanctions on manufacturers by curtailing the type and technologies that can be sold to foreign countries to avoid technical breaches of functional data, enabling the hostile forces to reverse-engineer an effective countermeasure. Due to the escalating geopolitical unrest, the trade relations between countries may become strained and lead to the imposition of trade restrictions on domestic companies, forbidding the export of defense products from manufacturing countries to the unfriendly countries limiting the growth prospects of the market by hindering potential sales.

Waveguide Components and Assemblies Market Segments

Based on sector, the aviation and defense segment of the waveguide components and assemblies market is estimated to account for the largest market share in 2022

Based on sector, the aviation and defense segment is expected to dominate the market share during the forecast period (2022 to 2027). Factors such as the increasing threats from terrorism and unconventional warfare around the globe have led to the increased demand for high-quality, integrated, precise, efficient, and cost-effective electromagnetic weapons for the military and defense forces. Non-lethal weapons, such as dazzlers, car-stopping microwave systems, medium-power microwave systems, and active denial systems, are integrated by homeland security forces to establish a tactical edge. The increased defense spending on procuring new platforms and modernizing the existing fleet are major factors expected to drive the growth of this segment during the forecast period.

Based on spectrum, the radios segment is estimated to account for the largest market share in 2022

Based on spectrum, the radios segment is expected to dominate the market share during the forecast period (2022 to 2027). Radio waves are widely operational in several industries, particularly the telecommunication industry. The drastic rise in communication and high-speed connectivity requirement is likely to increase the production of photonic devices and associated waveguide products and components. The spread of 5G mobile technology and wireless communication is a key driver for the demand for waveguides in the telecom industry. Most common wireless technologies utilize radio, in which distances can be as short as that for television or a few millions of kilometers for deep-space radio communications.

Waveguide Components and Assemblies Market Regional Analysis

The North American market is projected to contribute the largest share in 2022 in the waveguide components and assemblies market

Based on region, North America is expected to overtake Europe as the largest market for the waveguide components and assemblies market by 2030. The US is projected to be the major contributor to the region’s waveguide components and assemblies market, due to the rising demand for radar systems that encourage the evolution of waveguide components in the aerospace industry. The country has made heavy investments in advanced satellite and radar systems, in order to compete with the aerospace infrastructure development in China. This is another factor that is responsible to raise the demand for waveguide components and assemblies in the US.

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Waveguide Components and Assemblies Companies: Top Key Market Players

The Waveguide Components and Assemblies Market is dominated by a handful of established players, mainly due to the high technical expertise required to design the waveguide components and assemblies. The Waveguide Components and Assemblies Companies are dominated by globally established players such as

• Quantic Electronics (US)
• Millimeter Wave Products Inc. (US)
• Cobham Limited (UK)
• Ducommon Incorporated (US)
• ETL Systems (UK)

Major focus was given to the contracts and new product development due to the changing requirements of end-user industries globally.

Scope of the Waveguide Components and Assemblies Market Report

The study categorizes the aircraft micro turbine engines market based on sector, spectrum, component and region.

By Sector

• Aviation and Defense
• Space

By Spectrum

• Radio
• Microwave
• EO/IR
• Ultraviolet
• X-ray
• Gamma ray

By Component

• Adapters
• Couplers
• Loads and Filters
• Isolators and Circulators
• Duplexers
• Phase Shifters
• Power Combiners
• Pressure Windows

Region

• North America
• Europe
• Asia Pacific
• Rest of the World
  • Middle East
  • Africa

Recent Developments

• In December 2021, CAES, a business unit of Cobham Limited, released a wideband, Gallium Nitride (GaN) based, high-power wideband RF amplifier. This RF amplifier claims to offer the best RF output power-to-weight ratio. It also offers long-distance stand-off jamming and self-protection applications for a wide range of assets.
• In July 2020, Kete Microwave Electronics Co. Ltd. launched the KTWI260-30A, a waveguide isolator operating from 22 to 32 GHz.
• In April 2020, ETL Systems, one of the leaders in RF distribution and satellite communications, has launched the Falcon frequency converters. It offers a  range of multiple hot-swap, up and down converters in the same compact 1U chassis, operating in frequencies of Ka, Ku, K, C, X, L, and IF-band.

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