A newly published report by BAE Systems’ Digital Intelligence business reveals just how central artificial intelligence (AI) has become to defence and aerospace strategies worldwide. According to the findings, 82% of senior defence and aerospace decision makers and engineers now place AI at the forefront of their digital strategies, underscoring the technology’s critical role in maintaining an operational edge in today’s complex security environment.
Mission Readiness as the Driving Force
The defence sector’s embrace of AI and digital technologies is being fuelled by one key priority: ensuring assets such as warships, armoured vehicles, and combat aircraft remain mission ready. In an era marked by intensifying geopolitical tensions, 80% of respondents emphasised that reliable, available assets are crucial to operational effectiveness. To support this goal, nearly two-thirds of organisations reported they are increasing their investments in digital asset management solutions in 2025 compared with the previous year.
The report, titled Emerging Technology Behind the Scenes of Defence, reflects insights from 540 senior IT leaders, business decision makers, and engineers across the globe. It offers a detailed look at the state of asset readiness, the technology challenges facing defence organisations, and the opportunities for emerging innovation to provide solutions.
Rising Pressures in a New Threat Environment
The findings also paint a picture of rising strain on defence organisations. Nearly all respondents (97%) acknowledged that they face growing pressure to keep their assets operational at all times. Meanwhile, 81% said that transforming their organisations’ approach to readiness is a top priority for 2025.
However, delivering on this ambition is far from simple. Respondents identified key challenges such as:
- The lack of interoperability between different defence systems.
- The overwhelming volume of data being generated by modern platforms.
- The difficulty of translating raw information into actionable insights.
These issues are particularly pressing in today’s constantly evolving battlespace, where timely, accurate decisions can make the difference between mission success and failure.
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Harnessing AI to Overcome Complexity
Andrea Thompson, Group Managing Director at BAE Systems’ Digital Intelligence business, highlighted how the shifting threat landscape is reshaping customer priorities:
“The rapidly evolving nature of warfare is placing heightened pressure on many of our customers to meet the demands of a constantly shifting threat landscape. That pressure includes ensuring critical assets operate at peak performance, for as long and as often as possible.
To help, we’ve developed our data integration solution, PropheSEA, which harnesses emerging innovation to ease the burden on forces and support the fast, informed decision-making today’s battlespace demands. Next generation, AI-powered solutions can help to overcome key data challenges – ultimately ensuring that assets remain warfighting ready amid a new era of threat.”
PropheSEA: Unlocking Data-Driven Readiness
The research underscores the growing need for advanced asset management solutions such as PropheSEA, BAE Systems’ proprietary systems and data integration software. By applying AI and advanced analytics, PropheSEAdelivers integrated product support across the entire lifecycle of critical assets.
Already in operational use with the UK Royal Navy and NATO allies, PropheSEA enables users to securely connect and consolidate data relating to asset condition, performance, and readiness. Instead of having information siloed across different systems, the platform provides a single, trusted source of truth—cutting through complexity and enabling leaders to make rapid, informed decisions.
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The Road Ahead: Building Smarter Digital Strategies
While AI adoption is strong, the report also reveals that the defence sector is still at the early stages of fully realising its potential. Only 12% of organisations say they have reached an “advanced” or “optimised” stage of digital maturity in asset management, highlighting significant opportunities for growth.
Nevertheless, momentum is clearly building. Alongside prioritising AI, organisations are evolving their asset management strategies through a combination of:
- Standards-based technologies that improve interoperability.
- Big data and advanced analytics to transform raw information into insights.
- Condition-based monitoring systems that track asset health in real time.
- Simulation and modelling tools to test scenarios and optimise performance.
- Product lifecycle management (PLM) and enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems to integrate planning with execution.
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Conclusion: Preparing for the Next Era of Defence
The defence sector is entering a new era where digital resilience and AI-driven solutions are not just enablers but essential pillars of readiness. The BAE Systems report makes clear that decision makers see AI as central to addressing the pressing challenges of asset availability, data overload, and technological fragmentation.
As adversaries grow more sophisticated and the pace of conflict accelerates, the ability to integrate, analyse, and act on data will define success. For organisations worldwide, the path forward lies in harnessing AI-powered tools like PropheSEA to ensure that critical assets remain operational, resilient, and future-ready.
