GINC Technology
Sensing, Timing & Navigation

Radar & Radiofrequency Sensing

The capacity to sense with radio: radar across bands and apertures, passive radio-frequency sensing, and the detection technologies that find what moves, including the fastest things that fly.

Capability group
Sensing, Timing & Navigation
Domain
Critical Technology · Hard Power
Identifier
factbase.org/cap/R5W4QQ0Y0W
Reference
Radar Wikipedia

Papers

48.2k

2020–2024

Paper growth

+15%

2020–24 on 2015–19

Patent families

53.2k

2020–2024

Filed abroad

25%

families in more than one office

Framework

What it covers

What the capability covers and what it leaves to others, and the indicators it will be measured by.

Bounds

Covers radar and radio-frequency sensing technology, holding the sensing residue of the retired hypersonic tracking node; the defensive systems that act on the track belong to National Security's shields, and electronic warfare to its electromagnetic capability, with the shared radio-frequency technology base read here.

Lineage

Carried from v0.0 (formerly Radar) with the same identifier, absorbing the sensing residue of Hypersonic detection and tracking (retired): detection of extreme targets is radar capacity at its edge, and the defence system built on it is another domain's capability.

Indicators

  • research publication share in radarResearch
  • advanced radar systems in productionPending
  • radar export deliveriesPending
Research

Who publishes it

Papers classified to the capability, by year and by the nation of their authors' institutions, 2020–2024. Read from the v0.0 research topics Radar and Hypersonic detection and tracking.

Papers by year

The five leading nations, papers by year

Share of papers, 2020–2024

Of papers with a known author nation; 21% have none and are left out.

  1. 1China40.1%18,076 papers
  2. 2United States10.0%4,507 papers
  3. 3India5.0%2,254 papers
  4. 4Germany4.2%1,917 papers
  5. 5Italy4.0%1,789 papers
  6. 6United Kingdom3.6%1,614 papers
  7. 7Japan2.4%1,083 papers
  8. 8South Korea2.2%981 papers
  9. 9Canada2.0%888 papers
  10. 10Russia1.9%843 papers

Leading institutions, 2020–2024

By fractional count: each paper divided among its authors' institutions.

  1. 1Xidian University1,347fractional papers
  2. 2University of Electronic Science and Technology of China1,330fractional papers
  3. 3National University of Defense Technology975fractional papers
  4. 4Beijing Institute of Technology720fractional papers
  5. 5Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics440fractional papers
  6. 6Harbin Institute of Technology400fractional papers
  7. 7Nanjing University of Science and Technology375fractional papers
  8. 8Air Force Engineering University366fractional papers
  9. 9Beihang University333fractional papers
  10. 10Chinese Academy of Sciences328fractional papers
Patents

Who patents it

Patent families by the nation of origin of their applicants and their earliest priority year, from the CPC and IPC classes the capability is read from. 2025 onwards is incomplete: families are published 18 months after priority.

Families by priority year

The five leading origins, families by year

9,056 applicants filed here in 2015–2024; the five largest held 10% of families (HHI 38 of 10,000: unconcentrated).

Share of families by origin, 2020–2024

  1. 1China63.8%33,976 families
  2. 2United States8.5%4,545 families
  3. 3South Korea7.4%3,916 families
  4. 4Japan6.3%3,379 families
  5. 5Germany5.9%3,148 families
  6. 6France1.1%576 families
  7. 7Sweden0.8%449 families
  8. 8Netherlands0.8%423 families
  9. 9Taiwan0.8%408 families
  10. 10Switzerland0.4%236 families

Applicants filing most internationally, 2015–2024

Families filed in more than one office, by applicant as the offices name them.

  1. 1BOSCH GMBH ROBERT856international families
  2. 2QUALCOMM INC828international families
  3. 3HUAWEI TECH CO LTD721international families
  4. 4MITSUBISHI ELECTRIC CORP547international families
  5. 5SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO LTD498international families
  6. 6DENSO CORP456international families
  7. 7GM GLOBAL TECH OPERATIONS LLC369international families
  8. 8NXP BV368international families
  9. 9APTIV TECH LTD353international families
  10. 10INFINEON TECHNOLOGIES AG321international families

Classification read

  • G01S13/00 Radar systems · 679.9k documents
  • G01S7/02 Radar components, signal processing and countermeasures · 301.8k documents
  • G01S3/02 Radio direction finding, including passive sensing · 37.6k documents
  • G01V3/12 Detecting objects with electromagnetic waves · 12.5k documents

Shares inventions with

Capabilities whose classes the same families also fall in, by overlap (Jaccard).

Companies

Who makes it

The companies that research, design, make, supply and operate the technology, the global leaders and the leading firms of every region.

50 companies in this capability, from 28 nations across 8 regions. Sorted by how experts see each company's global relevance in the field, from very high to very low.

  1. Very high5 companies
  2. 1

    United StatesRTX

    Raytheon builds the AN/SPY-6 naval AESA family, the Patriot/LTAMDS air-defence radars and the AN/TPY-2 missile-defence radar, the world's largest radar franchise.

    Very high relevance · Systems integration · United States, Arlington · founded 1922 · 186k staff

  3. 2

    United StatesLockheed Martin

    Makes the Aegis AN/SPY-1 and AN/SPY-7 solid-state radars, the TPY-4 ground surveillance radar and the Long Range Discrimination Radar for US missile defence.

    Very high relevance · Systems integration · United States, Bethesda · founded 1995 · 121k staff

  4. 3

    United StatesNorthrop Grumman

    Leading airborne AESA supplier: AN/APG-81 (F-35), AN/APG-83 SABR (F-16), MESA (E-7) and the AN/TPS-80 G/ATOR ground radar.

    Very high relevance · Systems integration · United States, Falls Church · founded 1939 · 97k staff

  5. 4

    FranceThales

    Europe's largest radar maker: Ground Master air-defence radars, SMART-L and Sea Fire naval radars, the RBE2 AESA for Rafale and civil air-traffic radars.

    Very high relevance · Systems integration · France, Paris · founded 1893 · 83k staff

  6. 5

    NetherlandsNXP Semiconductors

    World market leader in automotive radar transceivers and processors (TEF82xx, S32R), supplying most Tier-1 radar makers.

    Very high relevance · Components & subsystems · Netherlands, Eindhoven · founded 2006 · 33k staff

  7. High13 companies
  8. 6

    ChinaChina Electronics Technology Group (CETC)

    China's main radar developer through its 14th (Nanjing) and 38th (Hefei) institutes, producing AESA fighter radars (KLJ-7), JY-27 counter-stealth VHF radars and AEW&C radars.

    High relevance · Systems integration · China, Beijing · founded 2002

  9. 7

    ItalyLeonardo

    Builds the ECRS Mk2 and Captor-E radars for Eurofighter, Kronos naval and land AESA radars and Seaspray/Osprey airborne surveillance radars.

    High relevance · Systems integration · Italy, Rome · founded 1948 · 60k staff

  10. 8

    IsraelIsrael Aerospace Industries (ELTA Systems)

    Its ELTA subsidiary makes the EL/M-2084 Iron Dome/David's Sling MMR, EL/M-2080 Green Pine and EL/M-2052 fighter AESA radars, exported worldwide.

    High relevance · Systems integration · Israel, Lod · founded 1953 · 15k staff

  11. 9

    SwedenSaab

    Makes the Giraffe and Sea Giraffe radar family, Arthur weapon-locating radar and the Erieye ER radar for GlobalEye airborne early warning.

    High relevance · Systems integration · Sweden, Stockholm · founded 1937 · 26k staff

  12. 10

    GermanyHensoldt

    Germany's radar champion, making TRML-4D (used in IRIS-T SLM), TRS-4D naval radars, Twinvis passive radar and co-developing the Eurofighter ECRS Mk1.

    High relevance · Components & subsystems · Germany, Taufkirchen · founded 2017 · 8,500 staff

  13. 11

    GermanyRobert Bosch

    One of the largest automotive radar suppliers, with tens of millions of mid- and long-range radar sensors shipped, and the top international patent applicant in radar.

    High relevance · Components & subsystems · Germany, Gerlingen · founded 1886 · 418k staff

  14. 12

    RussiaAlmaz-Antey

    Russia's air-defence concern, producing the 91N6 and 92N6 radars for S-400/S-500 and the Nebo-M counter-stealth VHF/UHF radar complex.

    High relevance · Systems integration · Russia, Moscow · founded 2002

  15. 13

    GermanyContinental

    Major automotive radar maker, including the ARS540 4D imaging long-range radar, with over 100 million radar sensors produced (now in its spun-off automotive unit).

    High relevance · Components & subsystems · Germany, Hanover · founded 1871 · 190k staff

  16. 14

    GermanyInfineon Technologies

    Leading supplier of 77 GHz automotive radar MMICs (RASIC) and 60 GHz XENSIV consumer radar sensors.

    High relevance · Components & subsystems · Germany, Neubiberg · founded 1999 · 58k staff

  17. 15

    United KingdomBAE Systems

    Makes the SAMPSON and Type 997 Artisan naval radars, Commander ground radars and the US Navy's AN/SPQ-9B, among others.

    High relevance · Systems integration · United Kingdom, London · founded 1999 · 100k staff

  18. 16

    United StatesTexas Instruments

    Pioneered single-chip CMOS mmWave radar sensors (AWR/IWR families) widely used in automotive and industrial sensing.

    High relevance · Components & subsystems · United States, Dallas, Texas · founded 1930 · 34k staff

  19. 17

    United StatesAnalog Devices

    Supplies beamformer ICs, data converters and RF front ends used in phased-array defence radars and high-performance radar subsystems.

    High relevance · Components & subsystems · United States, Wilmington · founded 1965 · 24k staff

  20. 18

    United StatesQorvo

    Leading supplier of GaN power amplifiers and front-end modules for AESA radar transmit/receive modules, operating a DoD-accredited trusted foundry.

    High relevance · Components & subsystems · United States, Greensboro · founded 2015 · 8,700 staff

  21. Moderate16 companies
  22. 19

    United StatesL3Harris Technologies

    Builds space-based missile-tracking sensors (HBTSS), maritime surveillance radars and RF sensing payloads, and is a major RF-sensor and electronic-sensing integrator.

    Moderate relevance · Systems integration · United States, Melbourne · founded 1895 · 47k staff

  23. 20

    JapanMitsubishi Electric

    Japan's leading defence radar maker, building the J/FPS-5 missile-defence radar, the F-2's J/APG-1 AESA and FCS-3 naval radar, plus automotive radar.

    Moderate relevance · Hardware & devices · Japan, Tokyo · founded 1921 · 150k staff

  24. 21

    JapanDenso

    Large supplier of millimetre-wave automotive radar sensors for Toyota Safety Sense and other ADAS systems, and a top radar patent filer.

    Moderate relevance · Components & subsystems · Japan, Kariya, Aichi · founded 1949 · 158k staff

  25. 22

    IrelandAptiv

    Leading automotive radar Tier-1 supplying its 6th-generation radar family to global OEMs; one of the top ten international radar patent applicants.

    Moderate relevance · Components & subsystems · Ireland, Dublin · founded 2017 · 141k staff

  26. 23

    TürkiyeAselsan

    Turkey's radar champion, producing the CENK naval AESA, KALKAN and ALP air-surveillance radars, and the MURAD AESA for F-16 and KAAN.

    Moderate relevance · Systems integration · Türkiye, Ankara · founded 1975 · 11k staff

  27. 24

    IsraelElbit Systems

    Makes DAiR multi-mission AESA radars, counter-drone and SAR radars, and RF sensing payloads for UAVs and land forces.

    Moderate relevance · Systems integration · Israel, Haifa · founded 1966 · 20k staff

  28. 25

    SpainIndra Sistemas

    Builds the LTR-25 Lanza 3D long-range air-defence radars (including NATO sites), the S3TSR space surveillance radar and air-traffic radars.

    Moderate relevance · Systems integration · Spain, Alcobendas · founded 1993 · 60k staff

  29. 26

    ChinaHuawei

    Third-largest international radar patent applicant, developing 4D imaging automotive radar and integrated sensing-and-communication (ISAC) for 5G-Advanced/6G.

    Moderate relevance · Hardware & devices · China, Shenzhen · founded 1987 · 208k staff

  30. 27

    South KoreaHanwha Systems

    Developed and builds the AESA fire-control radar for the KF-21 Boramae and the Cheongung (M-SAM) multifunction radar.

    Moderate relevance · Systems integration · South Korea, Seoul · founded 1977 · 4,800 staff

  31. 28

    ChinaChina Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation (CASIC)

    Its Second Academy (including the 23rd Institute) develops the fire-control and engagement radars for the HQ-9 and other Chinese air- and missile-defence systems.

    Moderate relevance · Systems integration · China, Beijing · founded 1956

  32. 29

    JapanFuruno Electric

    One of the world's largest marine radar makers, also producing solid-state X-band weather radars.

    Moderate relevance · Hardware & devices · Japan, Nishinomiya · founded 1948 · 3,300 staff

  33. 30

    DenmarkTerma

    Its SCANTER radar series is widely used for coastal, vessel-traffic, airport-surface and naval surveillance worldwide.

    Moderate relevance · Hardware & devices · Denmark, Aarhus · founded 1949 · 2,000 staff

  34. 31

    United StatesEchodyne

    Makes compact metamaterial electronically scanned array (MESA) radars (EchoGuard, EchoShield) widely used for counter-drone and border surveillance.

    Moderate relevance · Hardware & devices · United States, Kirkland · founded 2014

  35. 32

    FinlandICEYE

    Operates the world's largest constellation of small synthetic-aperture radar (SAR) satellites, with dozens launched.

    Moderate relevance · Operations & infrastructure · Finland, Espoo · founded 2014

  36. 33

    AustraliaCEA Technologies

    Designs the CEAFAR S-band phased-array radars on Australia's Anzac and Hunter-class frigates and the CEATAC/LPAR land radars; the Australian Government bought into it from 2023.

    Moderate relevance · Hardware & devices · Australia, Canberra · founded 1983 · 600 staff

  37. 34

    CzechiaERA (Omnipol group)

    Global specialist in passive RF surveillance: VERA-NG emitter tracking and multilateration (MLAT/WAM) systems for air-traffic control.

    Moderate relevance · Hardware & devices · Czechia, Pardubice · founded 1994

  38. Low13 companies
  39. 35

    IndiaBharat Electronics

    India's main radar producer, making the Ashwini LLTR, Arudhra MPR, Rajendra (Akash) and naval radars, many designed with DRDO's LRDE.

    Low relevance · Hardware & devices · India, Bengaluru · founded 1954 · 8,900 staff

  40. 36

    JapanNEC

    Supplies J/FPS-3 and J/FPS-7 air-defence radars, OPS-series naval radars and air-traffic control radars in Japan.

    Low relevance · Professional & data services · Japan, Tokyo · founded 1899 · 105k staff

  41. 37

    South KoreaLIG Nex1

    Builds South Korean naval multifunction radars, the L-SAM engagement radar components and the TPS-880K counter-battery radar.

    Low relevance · Systems integration · South Korea, Yongin · founded 1976 · 4,000 staff

  42. 38

    South KoreaHL Klemove

    HL Group's ADAS unit (ex-Mando), supplying front and corner 77 GHz radars and 4D imaging radar to Hyundai-Kia and other OEMs.

    Low relevance · Components & subsystems · South Korea, Seongnam · founded 2021

  43. 39

    ChinaCalterah Semiconductor

    China's leading CMOS millimetre-wave radar SoC maker (Alps and Andes families), shipping tens of millions of chips to automotive radar makers.

    Low relevance · Design · China, Shanghai · founded 2014

  44. 40

    PolandPIT-RADWAR

    Poland's radar maker within PGZ, producing the P-18PL long-range radar, the Sajna and Bystra AESA radars and Liwiec counter-battery radar.

    Low relevance · Hardware & devices · Poland, Warsaw · founded 2013

  45. 41

    BrazilEmbraer

    Through Embraer Defense & Security (Atech/Bradar) develops and produces the SABER M60 and M200 radars for Brazil's armed forces, Latin America's main indigenous radar line.

    Low relevance · Systems integration · Brazil, São José dos Campos · founded 1969 · 21k staff

  46. 42

    IsraelArbe Robotics

    Develops a high-channel-count 4D imaging radar chipset adopted by Tier-1s such as Magna and HiRain.

    Low relevance · Design · Israel, Tel Aviv · founded 2015

  47. 43

    SingaporeST Engineering

    Southeast Asia's largest defence electronics group, integrating surveillance and counter-UAS radars and developing its own drone-detection radar systems.

    Low relevance · Systems integration · Singapore, Singapore · founded 1967 · 27k staff

  48. 44

    South AfricaReutech Radar Systems (Reunert)

    Africa's leading radar house, making the RSR 210N naval surveillance radar, RTS 6400 optronic radar tracker and the MSR slope-stability mining radar.

    Low relevance · Hardware & devices · South Africa, Stellenbosch · founded 1987

  49. 45

    IndiaData Patterns

    Private Indian maker of radar subsystems and complete radars, including precision approach radars, coastal surveillance radars and Ku-band fire-control radar development.

    Low relevance · Components & subsystems · India, Chennai · founded 1985 · 1,200 staff

  50. 46

    TürkiyeMeteksan Savunma

    Makes the Retinar counter-drone and ground surveillance radars and MILDAR millimetre-wave seeker radars for Turkish missiles.

    Low relevance · Hardware & devices · Türkiye, Ankara · founded 1990

  51. 47

    TaiwanWistron NeWeb (WNC)

    Taiwan's main volume maker of 77/79 GHz automotive radar modules for global OEMs, alongside its antenna and RF module business.

    Low relevance · Contract manufacturing · Taiwan, Hsinchu · founded 1996

  52. Very low3 companies
  53. 48

    VietnamViettel Group

    Its Viettel High Tech unit designs and builds Vietnam's VRS-series radars, including the VRS-SRS 3D S-band tactical radar for low-flying drones and cruise missiles.

    Very low relevance · Operations & infrastructure · Vietnam, Hanoi · founded 1989

  54. 49

    ArgentinaINVAP

    Built Argentina's RPA-200 primary and secondary air-surveillance radars and the L-band SAR satellites SAOCOM 1A/1B.

    Very low relevance · Systems integration · Argentina, San Carlos de Bariloche · founded 1976 · 1,400 staff

  55. 50

    IndonesiaPT Len Industri

    Indonesia's defence electronics holding (DEFEND ID lead), integrating and co-producing air-surveillance radars with Thales (GM403) and building coastal radar networks.

    Very low relevance · Systems integration · Indonesia, Bandung · founded 1991

These companies in the Companies table →