According to Strategic Defence Intelligence’s (SDI) latest report, the U.S. C4ISR market is estimated to value $65 billion in 2014 and is anticipated to increase at a CAGR of 1.34 percent to reach $74.3 billion in 2024. The U.S. will maintain the current level of investment into C4ISR – platforms which enable network centricity – as countries such as China and Russia make rapid progress in closing the technological gap with the US and extremist groups learn to operate against advanced technologies.

“The efficacy of these systems has already been tested in Afghanistan and Iraq, and the fresh challenges posed by IS in the Middle East means that IT and cybersecurity, electronic warfare, 24/7 airborne surveillance and information collation for command centres are now vital points of differentiation for the U.S. military,” says Saktishree D. Majhi, analyst at SDI. “All of these capabilities are facilitated by C4ISR equipment such as UAVs, radars, electro-optic and infrared systems, target acquisition and fire-control sensors, IP based radio and satellite communication devices.”

Although the U.S. is still the largest defence spender globally, the defence budget will only increase marginally in the next few years, which means the US needs to look to channel their resources towards certain areas of military spending. Saktishree adds, “The U.S. is phasing out tanks and other key weapons programmes and is diverting its spending on IT and other C4ISR programmes despite the significant research and development costs. Due to a change in combat strategies, the US military is presently more oriented towards carrying out precision strikes using the least possible amount of weaponry and manpower, and this is made possible only by technologically advanced C4ISR systems.”