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Strategic Infrastructure

Manufacturing Facilities

Manufacturing facilities covers the industrial sites that produce aerospace and defence systems, including aircraft, satellite and launcher factories, assembly, integration and test cleanrooms, specialised component plants, and weapons and munitions production facilities. One of the capabilities of Space, Aerospace & Defence Infrastructure.

International families
2,1432015 to 2024
Leading country
United States3.3× the next
All families
7,869home filings included
Over five years
Falling2020 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

France

Germany

United Kingdom

Japan

China

Spain

Canada

Italy

Switzerland

892

274

266

193

97

78

59

50

39

27

2000 to 2025
1United States89241.6%0.7×
1,708
2France27412.8%0.9×
348
3Germany26612.4%0.8×
312
4United Kingdom1939.0%1.1×
233
5Japan974.5%0.4×
138
6China783.6%1.3×
4,263
7Spain592.8%0.8×
59
8Canada502.3%1.1×
54
9Italy391.8%0.8×
49
10Switzerland271.3%2.4×
29
11South Korea241.1%0.7×
335
12Australia190.9%0.7×
21
13Sweden160.7%1.7×
17
14Türkiye140.7%13×
22
15Netherlands110.5%0.2×
14
16Israel90.4%2.0×
9
17Belgium90.4%1.3×
10
18Denmark70.3%–
8
19Brazil70.3%1.3×
13
20Austria60.3%2.0×
7
21Poland50.2%1.5×
19
22Finland40.2%–
5
23India30.1%0.5×
3
24South Africa30.1%0.0×
3
25Taiwan20.1%1.0×
10
26Singapore20.1%1.0×
2
27Russia10.0%–
124
28Norway10.0%–
1
29Ireland10.0%0.0×
1
30New Zealand10.0%–
3
31Luxembourg10.0%0.0×
3
32Cayman Islands10.0%0.0×
1
33Czechia10.0%–
4
34Mexico10.0%0.0×
3
35Malaysia10.0%–
1
36Hungary00.0%–
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 Manufacturing Facilities. Names are as held in the source and are not consolidated across subsidiaries.

Global

2,143 international families

BOEING CO · United States

AIRBUS OPERATIONS GMBH · Germany

AIRBUS OPERATIONS SAS · France

AIRBUS OPERATIONS LTD · United Kingdom

THE BOEING CO · United States

MITSUBISHI HEAVY IND LTD · Japan

610

162

140

111

61

40

United States

892 international families

BOEING CO

THE BOEING CO

ZE BOING KOMPANI

ROHR INC

GOODRICH CORP

GEN ELECTRIC

608

61

28

27

17

12

France

274 international families

AIRBUS OPERATIONS SAS

AIRBUS SAS

SAFRAN AIRCRAFT ENGINES

SAFRAN NACELLES

AIRBUS FRANCE

AIRBUS

132

28

23

23

17

15

Germany

266 international families

AIRBUS OPERATIONS GMBH

RHEINMETALL WAFFE MUNITION GMBH

BROETJE AUTOMATION GMBH

AIRBUS DEFENCE & SPACE GMBH

PREMIUM AEROTEC GMBH

AIRBUS GMBH

131

14

11

9

9

8

United Kingdom

193 international families

AIRBUS OPERATIONS LTD

BAE SYSTEMS PLC

AIRBUS OPERATIONS GMBH

ROLLS ROYCE PLC

MANUFACTURING TECH CENTER LIMITED

THE MANUFACTURING TECH CENTRE LIMITED

104

38

17

6

5

5

Japan

97 international families

MITSUBISHI HEAVY IND LTD

SUBARU CORP

KAWASAKI HEAVY IND LTD

MITSUBISHI AIRCRAFT CORP

YOKOHAMA RUBBER CO LTD

AERONEXT INC

40

16

10

3

3

2

Similar capabilities

The nine capabilities that share the most international patent families with Manufacturing Facilities, 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

Defence Industrial Mobilisation

17.3% shared · 370 families in both

United States

Germany

France

China

United Kingdom

96

38

34

29

27

Critical Technology

Energetic Materials

6.4% shared · 166 families in both

United States

France

China

Germany

Japan

166

62

59

59

41

Strategic Infrastructure

Launch, Maintenance & Support

4.1% shared · 123 families in both

United States

France

Germany

United Kingdom

Japan

428

135

90

56

54

National Security

Operational Sustainment & War Reserves

3.0% shared · 75 families in both

United States

Germany

France

United Kingdom

China

88

67

32

24

23

Strategic Infrastructure

Air Infrastructure

2.8% shared · 152 families in both

United States

Japan

Germany

China

France

1,188

473

303

274

259

Strategic Infrastructure

R&D & Testing Facilities

2.6% shared · 128 families in both

United States

France

China

United Kingdom

Germany

1,103

402

262

254

246

National Security

Land Fires

1.7% shared · 61 families in both

United States

Germany

France

United Kingdom

South Korea

357

232

127

113

93

Critical Technology

Structural & Composite Materials

1.5% shared · 388 families in both

Japan

United States

Germany

China

France

7,278

5,012

2,345

2,154

1,734

Strategic Infrastructure

Mining & Quarrying

0.8% shared · 52 families in both

China

United States

Germany

Australia

South Africa

1,624

664

351

271

185

Crosswalk

How Manufacturing Facilities is matched to the patent classifications. The entries below were chosen for it; each stands for itself and everything beneath it in the scheme, 43 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
B64F5/10Manufacturing or assembling aircraft, e.g. jigs thereforManufacturing and assembling aircraft, including jigs1116,769
B64F5/50Handling or transporting aircraft componentsHandling and transporting aircraft components in production113,496
F42B33/00Manufacture of ammunition; Dismantling of ammunition; Apparatus thereforManufacture and dismantling of ammunition29714,247
C06B21/00Apparatus or methods for working-up explosives, e.g. forming, cutting, dryingApparatus for working up explosives13116,313

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 Manufacturing Facilities: 44 codes on 49,816 documents. The full crosswalk is in the cpc-to-capability.csv download.

CodeTitleUnder entryHow placedDocuments
B64F5/10Manufacturing or assembling aircraft, e.g. jigs thereforB64F5/10In the scheme16,769
B64F5/50Handling or transporting aircraft componentsB64F5/50In the scheme3,496
C06B21/0008Compounding the ingredientC06B21/00In the scheme2,551
C06B21/00Apparatus or methods for working-up explosives, e.g. forming, cutting, dryingC06B21/00In the scheme2,181
F42B33/00Manufacture of ammunition; Dismantling of ammunition; Apparatus thereforF42B33/00In the scheme2,148
F42B33/001Devices or processes for assembling ammunition, cartridges or cartridge elements from partsF42B33/00In the scheme2,112
C06B21/0091Elimination of undesirable or temporary components of an intermediate or finished product, e.g. making porous or low density products, purifying, stabilising, drying; Deactivating; ReclaimingC06B21/00In the scheme1,941
F42B33/06Dismantling fuzes, cartridges, projectiles, missiles, rockets or bombsF42B33/00In the scheme1,894
C06B21/0083Treatment of solid structures, e.g. for coating or impregnating with a modifierC06B21/00In the scheme1,736
C06B21/0066Shaping the mixture by granulation, e.g. flakingC06B21/00In the scheme1,711
F42B33/02Filling cartridges, missiles, or fuzes; Inserting propellant or explosive chargesF42B33/00In the scheme1,124
C06B21/0041Shaping the mixture by compressionC06B21/00In the scheme1,003
C06B21/0033Shaping the mixtureC06B21/00In the scheme904
F42B33/04Fitting or extracting primers in or from fuzes or chargesF42B33/00In the scheme835
C06B21/0075Shaping the mixture by extrusionC06B21/00In the scheme811
C06B21/005By a process involving melting at least part of the ingredientsC06B21/00In the scheme777
F42B33/0207Processes for loading or filling propulsive or explosive charges in containersF42B33/00In the scheme768
C06B21/0058Shaping the mixture by casting a curable composition, e.g. of the plastisol typeC06B21/00In the scheme766
C06B21/0025Compounding the ingredient the ingredient being a polymer bonded explosive or thermic componentC06B21/00In the scheme733
F42B33/025Filling cartridges, missiles, or fuzes; Inserting propellant or explosive charges by compactingF42B33/00In the scheme693
F42B33/067Dismantling fuzes, cartridges, projectiles, missiles, rockets or bombs by combustionF42B33/00In the scheme616
F42B33/002Orienting or guiding means for cartridges or cartridge parts during the manufacturing or packaging process; Feeding cartridge elements to automatic machinesF42B33/00In the scheme599
F42B33/062Dismantling fuzes, cartridges, projectiles, missiles, rockets or bombs by high-pressure water jet meansF42B33/00In the scheme454
F42B33/10Reconditioning used cartridge casesF42B33/00In the scheme435
F42B33/0214Filling cartridges, missiles, or fuzes; Inserting propellant or explosive charges by castingF42B33/00In the scheme366
F42B33/14Surface treatment of cartridges or cartridge casesF42B33/00In the scheme335
F42B33/004Cartridge loaders of the rotatable-turret typeF42B33/00In the scheme330
F42B33/0292Measuring explosive-charge levels in containers or cartridge cases; Methods or devices for controlling the quantity of material fed or filled by volumetric measurement, i.e. the volume of the material being determined before fillingF42B33/00In the scheme272
F42B33/0285Measuring explosive-charge levels in containers or cartridge cases; Methods or devices for controlling the quantity of material fed or filledF42B33/00In the scheme234
F42B33/12Crimping shotgun cartridgesF42B33/00In the scheme202
C06B21/0016Compounding the ingredient the ingredient being nitrocellulose or oranitro cellulose based propellant; Working up; gelatinising; stabilisingC06B21/00In the scheme189
F42B33/005Crimping cartridge cases on projectilesF42B33/00In the scheme124
F42B33/0228Funnel arrangements thereforF42B33/00In the scheme94
F42B33/0271Filling cartridges, missiles, or fuzes; Inserting propellant or explosive charges by using screw-type feeders for extruding blasting cartridgesF42B33/00In the scheme86
F42B33/008Cutting explosive or propulsive chargesF42B33/00In the scheme76
F42B33/0278Safety arrangements thereforF42B33/00In the scheme72
F42B33/0242Filling cartridges, missiles, or fuzes; Inserting propellant or explosive charges by casting by pressure castingF42B33/00In the scheme67
F42B33/065Dismantling fuzes, cartridges, projectiles, missiles, rockets or bombs by laser meansF42B33/00In the scheme66
F42B33/0235Heating of casting equipment or explosive charge containers during the loading processF42B33/00In the scheme61
F42B33/0264Filling cartridges, missiles, or fuzes; Inserting propellant or explosive charges by using screw-type feedersF42B33/00In the scheme60
F42B33/007Making cavities in an explosive or propulsive chargeF42B33/00In the scheme48
F42B33/0257Filling cartridges, missiles, or fuzes; Inserting propellant or explosive charges by compacting by vibration compactingF42B33/00In the scheme47
F42B33/0221Filling cartridges, missiles, or fuzes; Inserting propellant or explosive charges by casting by centrifugal castingF42B33/00In the scheme29
C06B21/0092Retired codeC06B21/00Retired, by main group1
Match: Direct
The capability is itself a technology or a kind of physical system, and the classification names it. Kept narrow to production methods; the aircraft, spacecraft and weapons themselves are left to the technology and defence domains. The crosswalk is a first pass that nobody has reviewed.

Other capabilities in Space, Aerospace & Defence Infrastructure