DUBLIN, Ireland, 27 March 2008. Research and Markets has announced the addition of a new report, titled "U.S. Electronic Warfare Markets."

This Frost & Sullivan research report outlines the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) electronic warfare (EW) market's programs and funding. The study summarizes the major Research Development Test and Evaluation (RDT&E) and Procurement programs funded jointly and by the individual services. The impact of these and future EW plans on defense industry market participants is also included.

The DoD is paying greater attention to Electronic Warfare (EW) programs, due to the casualties sustained in Afghanistan and Iraq by insurgents armed with improvised explosive devices (IEDs).

Additionally, China and Russia have improved their anti-air and anti-ship missiles with sophisticated tracking and guidance radars that incorporate EW countermeasures.

Joint airborne electronic attack (AEA) planning is being hampered because the DoD and the Air Force have not committed to funding and building a follow-on stand-off jamming capability to take over from the Navy Growler program in 2014. There are concerns that there will be a serious airborne EW capability gap by 2010, caused by too few U.S. assets and expected weapons advances made by potential adversaries.

"There is a lack of DoD-wide decisive leadership and a joint-service coordinated plan," notes the analyst of this research service. "This hinders the industry from anticipating the technological needs of the armed forces and the required investment in engineering and manufacturing resources."

DoD EW spending in 2008 is expected to be about $1,258.5 million. The largest area of spending is airborne EW because of the emphasis on upgrading the EA-6B aircraft, the production of the F-22, and the development of the F-18G EW system.

Ground EW is close behind, due to the spending to defeat Radio Frequency (RF) IEDs in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"With regard to competition, the U.S. DoD EW market is led by Northrop Grumman, which is anticipated to account for 24.0 percent of the 2008 funding, mostly in the airborne EW sector," says the analyst. "Other leading EW industry participants are ITT, Raytheon, BAE, Boeing, and Tyco M/A-Com."

Companies mentioned include:

- ITT

- Raytheon

- BAE

- Boeing

- Tyco M/A-Com