The aerospace and defence industry continues to be a hotbed of innovation, with activity driven by the pressing need for modernisation and the growing importance of emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence and unmanned systems. In the last three years alone, there have been over 174,000 patents filed and granted in the aerospace and defence industry, according to GlobalData’s report on Internet of Things in Aerospace, Defence & Security: Multi-axis drone gimbals.

However, not all innovations are equal and nor do they follow a constant upward trend. Instead, their evolution takes the form of an S-shaped curve that reflects their typical lifecycle from early emergence to accelerating adoption, before finally stabilising and reaching maturity.

Identifying where a particular innovation is on this journey, especially those that are in the emerging and accelerating stages, is essential for understanding their current level of adoption and the likely future trajectory and impact they will have.

According to GlobalData’s Technology Foresights, which plots the S-curve for the aerospace and defence industry using innovation intensity models built on over 262,000 patents, there are 180+ innovation areas that will shape the future of the industry.

Within the emerging innovation stage, aircraft powertrain controls, remote controlled drones, and aircraft anti-collision systems are disruptive technologies that are in the early stages of application and should be tracked closely. UAV swarm control, lidar for vehicle anti-collision, and satellite image smoothing techniques are some of the accelerating innovation areas, where adoption has been steadily increasing. Among maturing innovation areas are sensor-guided aiming assists and aircraft flight control systems, which are now well established in the industry.

Gimbals are pivoting supports that allow the rotation of an object on a single axis. A three-axis gimbal means that if a camera is mounted it can move independently of other gimbals using either the pitch, yaw or roll axes or rotation.

GlobalData’s analysis also uncovers the companies at the forefront of each innovation area and assesses the potential reach and impact of their patenting activity across different applications and geographies. According to GlobalData, there are 10+ companies, spanning technology vendors, established aerospace and defence companies, and up-and-coming start-ups engaged in the development and application of multi-axis drone gimbals.

The most prominent filer of patents in this field is SZ DJI Technology, which relies on multi-axis gimbal technology for camera stabilisation in aerial cinematography and consequently manufactures a range of gimballed cameras for their commercial drone portfolio. Another key company is PV LABS, which produces airborne optronics solutions with applications in ISR, border patrol, search and rescue and a variety of other defence and security related operations.

Shenzhen Daotong Intelligent Aviation Technology ranks highest in terms of overall patent application diversity, followed closely by Neurosciences Research Foundation and Omax. With regards to geographic reach, Raytheon Technologies leads the pack, having filed patents to develop and install multi-axis gimbals on existing military drones. Raytheon has also sought to address heat problems caused by these systems by researching innovative heat exchanger solutions.

To further understand how Internet of Things is disrupting the aerospace and defence industry, access GlobalData’s latest thematic research report on Thematic Research - Internet of Military Things.