Aerospace & Defense

Strategic Context

The global aerospace sector is under pressure: despite record order books, supply chains are struggling to keep up, slowing the pace of production. At the same time, the war in Ukraine and geopolitical tensions are stimulating a strong upturn in defense investment, with massive rearmament and a race for innovation in advanced military technologies.

The aerospace and defense sectors, dominated by global industrial giants, are characterized by :

  • Long, costly and highly regulated innovation cycles, requiring massive investment in propulsion, materials and manufacturing
     
  • Strong dependence on technological sovereignty and resilient supply chains in a fragmented geopolitical context
     
  • A constrained energy transition, driven by SAF (sustainable aviation fuel), electrification and hydrogen - the latter facing technological and regulatory obstacles despite its initial potential
     
  • Geographic shifts in demand, with an overall increase in spending on aviation and defense, but particularly marked growth in India, Southeast Asia and the Middle East for aviation, while defense investments are intensifying mainly in Europe, East Asia and the United States
     
aircraft mirror

Current Challenges in the Sector

Maexinvent's teams advise companies in the sector on the many challenges they face:
 

  1. Supply chain under stress Critical shortages (engines, materials, cabin equipment), longer lead times, pressure on production rates
     
  2. Weakened industrial quality Operational drift due to ramp-up, costly incidents, loss of confidence in manufacturing standards
     
  3. Investments under constraint Complex trade-offs between supporting current conflicts and financing breakthrough technologies
     
  4. Military cybersecurity Vulnerability of legacy systems, the need to accelerate digital modernization and cyber resilience
     
  5. Trade protectionism : tariffs, national measures (e.g. Buy American Act), loss of competitiveness for non-American manufacturers
     
  6. Industrial consolidation Mergers and acquisitions strengthening certain groups, tensions over sovereignty and imbalances in value chains
     
  7. Geopolitical fragmentation sovereignist withdrawal, duplication of programs, slowdown in cross-border cooperation
     
  8. Energy transition out of sync Ambitious climate targets, but technologies (SAF, hydrogen, electric) still immature and costly
     
  9. Post-Covid legacy fragile industrial capacities, labor shortages, lasting financial imbalances in the supply chain

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