Company patents
BAE Systems plc
BAE Systems plc's patent strategy shows a surprising shift, with a significant decline in its core 'Aircraft & Aerodynamics' category, which still represents 13.0% of its portfolio but saw a -73.3% YoY drop in 2026 so far. Conversely, the company is demonstrating an emerging focus on 'Batteries & Fuel Cells' and 'Manipulators & Robotics', both experiencing a robust +200.0% YoY growth in 2026, albeit from a smaller base of 1.6% and 2.6% of the total portfolio respectively.
Patent Trend by Technology Area
Yearly patent publications since 2023
Product themes
Product-level themes inferred from filings since 2023, with category chips showing where each theme appears. Select a theme to filter the patents below.
385 US filings (since 2023) · 12 categories · 35 themes
Design and control of electromechanical or hydraulic actuators for moving aircraft components like wing tips, control surfaces, or landing gear, often focusing on efficiency, redundancy, or specific operational profiles.
Optical systems and components specifically designed for head-mounted displays, augmented reality (AR) glasses, and virtual reality (VR) headsets, focusing on image projection, waveguide integration, and display durability.
Systems and methods for ensuring robust and reliable aircraft control, often involving multiple control computers, adaptive control laws, or sophisticated pilot input interfaces, especially in the presence of failures or environmental disturbances.
Systems and methods for monitoring, controlling, and optimizing the movement of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and other aircraft, including real-time connectivity, flight planning, and route modification.
Mechanisms and algorithms designed to enhance the stability, precision, and safety of drone flight, including damping systems, rotor dynamics, fault-tolerant control, and transition between flight modes.
Techniques for rendering, interacting with, and managing content within augmented or virtual reality environments, including spatial tracking, gaze interaction, and dynamic multi-application display management.
Innovations in aircraft airframe design, material usage, and aerodynamic surfaces to improve performance characteristics such as weight, rigidity, short take-off/landing capabilities, or stall resistance.
Systems that combine light sources, waveguides, and display elements into unified products for backlighting, automotive applications, general lighting, or color-corrected displays.
Solutions for the automated deployment, retrieval, and payload handling of drones, often involving integration with other vehicles or specialized ground infrastructure for specific applications like package delivery.
Methods and systems for improving the quality of video streams, generating intermediate frames, or continuously locating and following objects within a sequence of images, even under occlusion.
Innovations in aircraft cabin design, including reconfigurable spaces, passenger amenities, integrated displays, and automated control of cabin devices based on flight status.
Systems for coordinating multiple drones, managing their operations within an airspace, including real-time connectivity, traffic management, and task allocation for cooperative missions.
Methods and systems for monitoring the operational status, detecting anomalies, ensuring safe interaction, and preventing damage or injury in robotic systems.
Technologies for detecting operational parameters, monitoring component health, and diagnosing malfunctions in aircraft using various sensors and data analysis, often employing AI/ML.
Innovations in the physical components and architectures of radar, lidar, and sonar systems, including antenna design, RF signal generation, beam steering mechanisms, and optical elements for improved performance.
Systems designed to manage the temperature of multiple components in electric or hybrid vehicles, such as batteries, electric motors, power electronics, and the passenger cabin, often using shared or interconnected cooling/heating circuits.
Focuses on the structural integrity, housing, mounting, and physical integration of battery cells into robust and protected packs within electric vehicles, including manufacturing considerations.
Software, algorithms, and associated hardware for monitoring, controlling, and optimizing battery performance, safety, and lifespan, including charge/discharge cycles, thermal regulation, and system integration.
Technologies for storing, managing pressure, and safely distributing hydrogen fuel within an aircraft, including tank integration, pressure control, and leak detection.
Development of sophisticated optical lens assemblies and computational methods to achieve high-resolution, precise, or specialized imaging, often for medical or scientific applications.
Systems and methods for using drones equipped with various sensors (optical, chemical, LiDAR) to collect data for monitoring environmental conditions, inspecting infrastructure, or assessing agricultural assets.
Drone propulsion and power architectures combining multiple energy sources, such as internal combustion engines, electric motors, batteries, and generators, to extend flight duration, range, or payload capacity.
Design and control of advanced robotic grippers, tools, and mechanical linkages for specific manipulation tasks or operating in challenging environments.
Process and equipment for producing solid-state battery cells, including solid electrolyte synthesis (sulfide/oxide/polymer), thin-film deposition, lamination, sintering, dry-electrode fabrication, and stacking under controlled atmosphere.
Systems designed to regulate the flow, pressure, and distribution of non-fuel gases and fluids within aircraft, such as cabin air, oxygen supply, or pneumatic actuation systems.
Techniques used by sensing systems to identify the presence, location, and characteristics of objects or unusual conditions in an environment, including methods to suppress false positives or 'ghost' detections.
Techniques utilizing deep learning models like Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs) or diffusion models to create new images, modify existing ones, or generate synthetic data based on various inputs or conditions.
Integration of electric motors, power generation, and distribution systems for propelling aircraft, including components for coupling motors to propellers and managing electrical power.
Designing user interfaces and interaction methods specifically for mobile or wearable devices, enabling control of external systems, monitoring user states, or facilitating real-world transactions.
Methods and systems for accurately determining the absolute or relative position of an object or device, often integrating satellite navigation (GNSS), inertial measurement units (IMU), and local ranging or wireless communication technologies.
Using computational design and simulation to optimize the performance characteristics of specific components or materials within a larger engineering system.
Engineering of artificial subwavelength structures (meta-atoms) to create metasurfaces that manipulate light properties (phase, polarization, wavelength) for multi-functional optical devices.
User interface designs and systems that enable multiple users to interact with shared content, provide feedback, or coordinate activities, often across different devices or locations.
Methods and compositions for identifying, quantifying, or characterizing specific biological molecules (e.g., nucleic acids, proteins, metabolites, antibodies) or microbial species, often for diagnostic, prognostic, or quality control applications.
Automated methods and tools for generating, optimizing, and verifying the physical layout and interconnections of electronic components, including integrated circuits, printed circuit boards, and system-level interface protection.
Patents
Showing 1-10 of 623