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National Security

Strategic Lift & Mobility

The capacity to move forces and materiel at strategic distance and sustain the bridge, by air, sea and land. One of the capabilities of Joint Command, Projection & Sustainment.

International families
6932015 to 2024
Leading country
United States3.9× the next
All families
2,334home 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

Japan

United Kingdom

China

Spain

Germany

France

Israel

Canada

Türkiye

286

73

43

38

38

35

35

16

15

14

2000 to 2025
1United States28641.3%0.9×
576
2Japan7310.5%0.8×
123
3United Kingdom436.2%0.5×
50
4China385.5%1.4×
1,118
5Spain385.5%1.0×
39
6Germany355.1%0.8×
57
7France355.1%1.1×
41
8Israel162.3%1.3×
22
9Canada152.2%0.5×
17
10Türkiye142.0%–
15
11South Korea131.9%1.2×
116
12Australia101.4%1.0×
14
13Italy81.2%7.0×
9
14India60.9%5.0×
7
15Russia60.9%2.0×
52
16Ireland60.9%0.2×
6
17Sweden50.7%4.0×
5
18Finland50.7%0.0×
6
19Singapore50.7%0.7×
5
20Brazil50.7%0.7×
9
21Taiwan40.6%1.0×
6
22Netherlands30.4%0.0×
3
23Denmark30.4%0.0×
3
24New Zealand30.4%0.0×
3
25Belgium20.3%1.0×
2
26South Africa20.3%0.0×
2
27Switzerland10.1%0.0×
2
28Austria10.1%0.0×
3
29Saudi Arabia10.1%0.0×
1
30Liechtenstein10.1%–
1
31Malaysia10.1%–
1
32Portugal10.1%–
1
33Norway00.0%–
1
34Poland00.0%–
3
35Czechia00.0%–
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 Strategic Lift & Mobility. Names are as held in the source and are not consolidated across subsidiaries.

Global

693 international families

BOEING CO · United States

WING AVIATION LLC · United States

WALMART APOLLO LLC · United States

AIRBUS DEFENCE & SPACE SAU · Spain

BAE SYSTEMS PLC · United Kingdom

RAKUTEN GROUP INC · Japan

36

35

26

19

18

15

United States

286 international families

BOEING CO

WING AVIATION LLC

WALMART APOLLO LLC

THE BOEING CO

United parcel service america inc

WAL MART STORES INC

36

35

26

11

11

10

Japan

73 international families

RAKUTEN GROUP INC

RAKUTEN INC

AERONEXT INC

YANCHENG HUIKONG TECH CO LTD

KUBOTA KK

LOTTE GROUP CO LTD

15

11

9

4

3

3

United Kingdom

43 international families

BAE SYSTEMS PLC

COBHAM MISSION SYSTEMS WIMBORNE LTD

IRVINGQ LTD

MISSION SYSTEMS WIMBORNE LTD

AIRBUS OPERATIONS LTD

BRULIC LTD

18

4

3

3

2

2

China

38 international families

SZ DJI TECHNOLOGY CO LTD

AUTOFLIGHT KUNSHAN CO LTD

Liang tairan

SHANGHAI AUTOFLIGHT CO LTD

AUTOFLIGHT AVIATION TECH KUNSHAN CO LTD

BEIJING JINGDONG CENTURY TRADING CO LTD

6

3

3

3

2

2

Spain

38 international families

AIRBUS DEFENCE & SPACE SAU

DEFENSYA INGENIERIA INT S L

AIRBUS DEFENCE AND SPACE SAU

DEFENSYA INGENIERÍA INT S L

AIRBUS DEFENCE & SPACE SA

AIRBUS DEFENCE AND SPACE SA

19

7

6

6

4

4

Similar capabilities

The nine capabilities that share the most international patent families with Strategic Lift & Mobility, 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

Air Strike & Interdiction

5.0% shared · 44 families in both

United States

United Kingdom

Türkiye

Germany

South Korea

45

40

29

23

15

National Security

Control of the Air

2.9% shared · 34 families in both

United States

United Kingdom

Germany

Türkiye

France

176

57

50

43

41

Critical Technology

Uncrewed & Collaborative Systems

2.7% shared · 457 families in both

United States

Japan

China

South Korea

Germany

3,995

3,332

3,111

1,460

958

Strategic Infrastructure

Air Infrastructure

2.4% shared · 97 families in both

United States

Japan

Germany

China

France

1,188

473

303

274

259

Strategic Infrastructure

Postal & Parcel

1.9% shared · 194 families in both

United States

Japan

China

South Korea

Germany

2,812

1,682

1,237

976

644

National Security

Battlefield Aviation & Uncrewed Systems

1.1% shared · 10 families in both

United States

South Korea

Germany

Israel

United Kingdom

68

29

23

23

22

National Security

Land Fires

0.8% shared · 16 families in both

United States

Germany

France

United Kingdom

South Korea

357

232

127

113

93

Strategic Infrastructure

Launch, Maintenance & Support

0.7% shared · 11 families in both

United States

France

Germany

United Kingdom

Japan

428

135

90

56

54

Strategic Infrastructure

Air Navigation & Traffic Management

0.6% shared · 48 families in both

United States

Japan

China

France

Germany

2,940

1,014

815

738

380

Crosswalk

How Strategic Lift & Mobility 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
B64D39/00Refuelling during flightRefuelling aircraft in flight444,642
B64D1/08Dropping, ejecting, or releasing articles the articles being load-carrying devicesAir-dropping cargo containers and platforms from aircraft447,709

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 Strategic Lift & Mobility: 8 codes on 12,351 documents. The full crosswalk is in the cpc-to-capability.csv download.

CodeTitleUnder entryHow placedDocuments
B64D1/12ReleasingB64D1/08In the scheme3,428
B64D39/00Refuelling during flightB64D39/00In the scheme2,332
B64D1/08Dropping, ejecting, or releasing articles the articles being load-carrying devicesB64D1/08In the scheme1,990
B64D1/10Stowage arrangements for the devices in aircraftB64D1/08In the scheme1,364
B64D39/06Connecting hose to aircraft; Disconnecting hose therefromB64D39/00In the scheme1,065
B64D1/14Absorbing landing shocksB64D1/08In the scheme927
B64D39/04Adaptations of hose constructionB64D39/00In the scheme778
B64D39/02Means for paying-in or out hoseB64D39/00In the scheme467
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. Only air refuelling and airdrop are distinguishable; transport aircraft and sealift ships cannot be told apart from civil cargo aircraft and shipping, and the airdrop entry now includes drone parcel delivery. The crosswalk is a first pass that nobody has reviewed.

Other capabilities in Joint Command, Projection & Sustainment