Here are the 10 RF and microwave industry predictions for 2026 from Swami Hindle. The following pages include industry predictions from MathWorks, Molex and Finwave. Let us know what predictions you have!

  1. 6G Research will start to take off with joint communications and sensing work intensifying using higher frequency bands. D-Band and Sub-THz work will increase for high capacity and sensing applications work. AI assisted front ends will also be an area of significant work as NVIDIA pushes this area with the market influence and funding.
  2. LEO constellations will continue to increase and be a dominant market for RF and microwave engineers. At least one space constellation company will close or be acquired as there are too many SATCOM networks vying for the market. NTN will continue to expand and find new applications to complement terrestrial networks.
  3. The US and other countries will intensify their efforts to establish domestic IC production by building and expanding fab capacity. 2026 will be the year they realize these are very long-term goals that require building complicated infrastructure and a workforce to realize these ambitions and roll back their expectations. China will continue to make major strides in realizing their own fabs despite restrictions on their access to the latest technology and threaten US leadership in this area.
  4. IoT and edge connected devices will dramatically grow with 5G NTN and RedCap, along with current IoT technologies, enabling the rapid expansion of connected devices for industrial, agricultural and medical applications.
  5. After several years of consolidation in the RF and microwave industry, 2026 will see a pullback in acquisitions and several of the companies acquired by investment firms will be sold off or spun out in the IPO market. The Skyworks/Qorvo merger will create opportunities for the smaller RF device/component companies.
  6. Counter Drone systems will be fielded at a high rate and go into production as countries scramble to protect their skies from these threats. AI-enabled radar, high power microwave and laser capabilities will be the main enabling technologies for these systems.
  7. 4D radar systems, that provide high-resolution spatial and velocity data, will be prioritized in new defense contracts and automotive radar systems for advanced driver safety and autonomy.
  8. Countries will prioritize domestic defense production as the US pulls back from NATO and countries want to control their own technology to defend their borders. Software will lead defense systems’ development and hardware will be modular and flexible to be updated remotely enabling upgrades quickly in the field with AI playing a major role in the systems (defense companies have taken notice of Anduril’s business model).
  9. AI/ML will continue to headline many areas of improvement in test/measurement, design and software automation. The shift left trend in simulation/design software will be enabled by AI/ML as models will become more accurate with model-based engineering.
  10. Direct digital conversion will continue to advance for EW and SATCOM applications with direct conversion to Ka-Band but fully digital beam forming radar systems are years away from production.