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National Security

Air Strike & Interdiction

The capacity to strike from the air at operational depth: interdiction, close air support and the tactical strike complex. One of the capabilities of Air Power.

International families
2262015 to 2024
Leading country
United States1.1× the next
All families
949home filings included
Over five years
Rising2020 to 2024 against the five before

Year by year

Patent families by country of origin and the year of the earliest filing, 2000 to 2025; 2025 is a part year, still filling in. International families are those for which protection was sought beyond one country.

Volume

International patent families in the capability, by the year of the earliest filing.

Source: Global Institute for National Capability (GINC), 2026. Underlying patents from 107 patent offices, IFI CLAIMS and Google

Share by country

Each country's share of the year's international families, in per cent: the capability's five largest countries of origin, 2015 to 2024, and the rest of the world.

Source: Global Institute for National Capability (GINC), 2026. Underlying patents from 107 patent offices, IFI CLAIMS and Google

Country leaderboard

International patent families, 2015 to 2024, by country of origin. Growth compares the latest five full years with the five before.

Ten largest

United States

United Kingdom

Türkiye

Germany

South Korea

France

China

Sweden

Japan

Italy

45

40

29

23

15

15

10

9

7

7

2000 to 2025
1United States4519.9%1.1×
132
2United Kingdom4017.7%1.1×
46
3Türkiye2912.8%3.8×
37
4Germany2310.2%1.6×
27
5South Korea156.6%0.9×
151
6France156.6%1.1×
15
7China104.4%1.0×
440
8Sweden94.0%0.8×
9
9Japan73.1%0.8×
13
10Italy73.1%1.3×
10
11Israel73.1%1.3×
7
12Australia52.2%1.5×
5
13Finland31.3%2.0×
3
14Canada20.9%1.0×
4
15Austria10.4%0.0×
2
16Spain10.4%–
2
17Norway10.4%0.0×
2
18Brazil10.4%–
1
19Mexico10.4%0.0×
1
20Taiwan00.0%–
1
21Switzerland00.0%–
1
22India00.0%–
1
23Russia00.0%–
26
24Poland00.0%–
5
25Czechia00.0%–
1

Applicants

The largest applicants by international patent families, 2015 to 2024: across the world, then within each of the five countries with the most families in Air Strike & Interdiction. Names are as held in the source and are not consolidated across subsidiaries.

Global

226 international families

BAE SYSTEMS PLC · United Kingdom

TUSAS TURK HAVACILIK VE UZAY SANAYII ANONIM SIRKETI · Türkiye

TUSAS TUERK HAVACILIK VE UZAY SANAYII ANONIM SIRKETI · Türkiye

RAYTHEON CO · United States

AIRBUS DEFENCE & SPACE GMBH · Germany

SAAB AB · Sweden

25

23

14

13

9

7

United States

45 international families

RAYTHEON CO

BAE SYS INF & ELECT SYS INTEG

ALLEY NICHOLAS ROBERT

ANDURIL INDUSTRIES INC

BRASHER MATTHEW GORDON

WILLIAMS JESSE OWEN

13

3

2

2

2

2

United Kingdom

40 international families

BAE SYSTEMS PLC

MBDA UK LTD

L3HARRIS RELEASE & INTEGRATED SOLUTIONS LTD

AIRBUS OPERATIONS LTD

BAE SYSTEMS

ALFORD IP LTD

25

5

3

2

2

1

Türkiye

29 international families

TUSAS TURK HAVACILIK VE UZAY SANAYII ANONIM SIRKETI

TUSAS TUERK HAVACILIK VE UZAY SANAYII ANONIM SIRKETI

TUSAS—TURK HAVACILIK VE UZAY SANAYII ANONIM SIRKETI

GAZI UNIV REKTORLUGU

OSTIM TEKNIK UENIVERSITESI

OSTIM TEKNIK UNIV

23

14

4

2

2

2

Germany

23 international families

AIRBUS DEFENCE & SPACE GMBH

MBDA DEUTSCHLAND GMBH

DIEHL DEFENCE GMBH & CO KG

AIRBUS OPERATIONS GMBH

ATLAS ELEKTRONIK GMBH

MBDA DEUTSCHLAND GMBH SCHROBENHAUSEN GERMANY

9

6

5

1

1

1

France

15 international families

ALKAN

ARESIA VALENTON

THALES SA

AIRBUS

AIRBUS OPERATIONS SAS

AIRBUS SAS

6

3

2

1

1

1

Similar capabilities

The nine capabilities that share the most international patent families with Air Strike & Interdiction, 2015 to 2024: the families counted in both as a share of those counted in either. Each card shows its five largest countries.

National Security

Control of the Air

15.5% shared · 100 families in both

United States

United Kingdom

Germany

Türkiye

France

176

57

50

43

41

National Security

Battlefield Aviation & Uncrewed Systems

8.6% shared · 39 families in both

United States

South Korea

Germany

Israel

United Kingdom

68

29

23

23

22

National Security

Strategic Lift & Mobility

5.0% shared · 44 families in both

United States

Japan

United Kingdom

China

Spain

286

73

43

38

38

National Security

Land Fires

4.5% shared · 71 families in both

United States

Germany

France

United Kingdom

South Korea

357

232

127

113

93

National Security

Long-Range Strike

3.5% shared · 36 families in both

United States

Germany

United Kingdom

France

Israel

278

159

88

77

44

National Security

Operational Sustainment & War Reserves

1.9% shared · 12 families in both

United States

Germany

France

United Kingdom

China

88

67

32

24

23

National Security

Integrated Air & Missile Defence

1.8% shared · 11 families in both

Germany

United States

Japan

Israel

United Kingdom

92

75

47

41

28

National Security

Counter-Uncrewed & Low-Altitude Defence

1.5% shared · 13 families in both

United States

Germany

United Kingdom

Japan

Israel

156

135

72

56

50

Strategic Infrastructure

Military Bases & Installations

1.4% shared · 25 families in both

United States

Germany

South Korea

United Kingdom

Japan

353

218

111

100

84

Crosswalk

How Air Strike & Interdiction is matched to the patent classifications. The entries below were chosen for it; each stands for itself and everything beneath it in the scheme, 8 Cooperative entries in all. A patent family counts when any of its codes, in either scheme and at any office, falls under one of them. Codes since retired are placed under the entries that replaced them.

EntryTitle in the schemeWhy it is chosenCPC codesIPC codesDocuments
B64D1/04Dropping, ejecting, or releasing articles the articles being explosive, e.g. bombsCarrying and releasing bombs from aircraft225,471
F42B25/00Fall bombsAir-dropped bombs11748
F41G9/02Systems for controlling missiles or projectiles, not provided for elsewhere for bombing controlBombing control systems21329
F41G3/24BombsightsBombsights11435
F41F3/06Rocket or torpedo launchers for rockets from aircraftLaunching rockets from aircraft221,471

CPC and IPC codes are the codes in use on patent documents, at any office, that fall under the entry. Documents is the larger of the two schemes' counts of documents carrying one of them. An entry with no IPC codes can be told apart only in the Cooperative scheme.

The Cooperative codes in use that count towards Air Strike & Interdiction: 8 codes on 7,736 documents. The full crosswalk is in the cpc-to-capability.csv download.

CodeTitleUnder entryHow placedDocuments
B64D1/04Dropping, ejecting, or releasing articles the articles being explosive, e.g. bombsB64D1/04In the scheme2,511
B64D1/06Bomb releasing; Bomb doorsB64D1/04In the scheme2,311
F41F3/06Rocket or torpedo launchers for rockets from aircraftF41F3/06In the scheme1,018
F42B25/00Fall bombsF42B25/00In the scheme681
F41F3/065Rocket pods, i.e. detachable containers for launching a plurality of rocketsF41F3/06In the scheme453
F41G3/24BombsightsF41G3/24In the scheme433
F41G9/02Systems for controlling missiles or projectiles, not provided for elsewhere for bombing controlF41G9/02In the scheme274
F41G9/025Training or teaching apparatus thereforF41G9/02In the scheme55
Match: Through its tools
The classification names the equipment or technology the capability draws on, not the capability. The count says how much is being invented for it, not how well it is done. Small counts; stand-off missiles are counted under Long-Range Strike, and bomb-release entries increasingly include drone payload droppers. The crosswalk is a first pass that nobody has reviewed.

Other capabilities in Air Power