Mentions of robotics within the filings of companies in the aerospace and defence sector were 88% higher between April 2021 and March 2022 than in 2016, according to the latest analysis of data from GlobalData.

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When companies in the aerospace and defence sector publish annual and quarterly reports, ESG reports and other filings, GlobalData analyses the text and identifies individual sentences that relate to disruptive forces facing companies in the coming years. Robotics is one of these topics - companies that excel and invest in these areas are thought to be better prepared for the future business landscape and better equipped to survive unforeseen challenges.

To assess whether robotics is featuring more in the summaries and strategies of companies in the aerospace and defence sector, two measures were calculated. Firstly, we looked at the percentage of companies which have mentioned robotics at least once in filings during the past twelve months - this was 58% compared to 36% in 2016. Secondly, we calculated the percentage of total analysed sentences that referred to robotics.

Of the 20 biggest employers in the aerospace and defence sector, Leonardo was the company which referred to robotics the most between April 2021 and March 2022. GlobalData identified 16 robotics-related sentences in the Italy-based company's filings - 0.4% of all sentences. Rheinmetall mentioned robotics the second most - the issue was referred to in 0.16% of sentences in the company's filings. Other top employers with high robotics mentions included L3Harris, Textron and Airbus.

Across all companies in the aerospace and defence sector the filing published in the first quarter of 2022 which exhibited the greatest focus on robotics came from Kratos. Of the document's 1,442 sentences, 15 (1%) referred to robotics.

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This analysis provides an approximate indication of which companies are focusing on robotics and how important the issue is considered within the aerospace and defence sector, but it also has limitations and should be interpreted carefully. For example, a company mentioning robotics more regularly is not necessarily proof that they are utilising new techniques or prioritising the issue, nor does it indicate whether the company's ventures into robotics have been successes or failures.

In the last quarter, companies in the aerospace and defence sector based in the United States were most likely to mention robotics with 0.12% of sentences in company filings referring to the issue. In contrast, companies with their headquarters in Western Europe mentioned robotics in just 0.08% of sentences.