13 Leading Coastal Surveillance Companies Strengthening Maritime Security in 2026
Coastal surveillance has moved far beyond conventional radar stations positioned along shorelines. Governments, coast guards, naval forces, port authorities, and border agencies increasingly rely on interconnected surveillance networks to monitor territorial waters, protect critical infrastructure, detect illegal activities, and maintain maritime domain awareness. Radar remains central to these operations, but modern systems increasingly combine electro-optical sensors, Automatic Identification System (AIS) information, satellite imagery, unmanned platforms, artificial intelligence, and command-and-control technologies.
The global Coastal Surveillance Market size is estimated at USD 41,209.87 million in 2026 and is projected to reach USD 58,709.09 million by 2035, growing at a CAGR of 4.01% from 2026 to 2035. Growing concerns over maritime borders, illegal fishing, smuggling, piracy, offshore infrastructure, subsea assets, and port security continue to encourage investment. Against this backdrop, several defense and maritime technology companies are advancing the sensors, software, and integrated systems that define modern coastal surveillance.
13 Leading Coastal Surveillance Companies
1. Northrop Grumman
Northrop Grumman brings extensive experience in intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, autonomous aircraft, radar, networking, and command systems to the maritime environment. One of its most important platforms is the MQ-4C Triton, a high-altitude unmanned aircraft developed for persistent maritime ISR. Triton supports wide-area surveillance while giving operators the ability to monitor maritime activity well beyond the range of shore-based sensors.
The company's broader radar portfolio also supports multi-domain surveillance. Its technologies can detect and track maritime, airborne, and ground targets, making Northrop Grumman particularly relevant to defense customers seeking to connect coastal monitoring with wider military intelligence networks. As maritime security becomes increasingly dependent on persistent surveillance across large areas, long-endurance unmanned platforms are becoming an important complement to traditional coastal radar.
2. Raytheon
Raytheon, an RTX business, is a major radar and defense-sensor provider with technologies covering naval, airborne, land, and coastal applications. Its SharpSight multi-domain surveillance radar is designed for missions including coastal monitoring, border security, economic exclusion zone surveillance, anti-piracy operations, and search and rescue.
SharpSight can combine radar tracks with AIS information, helping operators distinguish normal commercial traffic from unidentified or suspicious targets. In May 2026, Raytheon announced an order from Blue Raven for 120 SharpSight radars, demonstrating demand for flexible surveillance sensors capable of operating across maritime and land environments. Raytheon's broader expertise in electronically scanned radar and naval sensing further strengthens its position as maritime surveillance becomes more integrated and data-driven.
3. Thales Group
Thales approaches coastal security as an integrated surveillance problem rather than simply a radar requirement. Its portfolio spans radar, sonar, electro-optics, communications, cybersecurity, naval systems, and command-and-control technology.
The company's CoastShield solution reflects this strategy. The modular architecture can combine CoastWatcher radar, AIS information, electro-optical sensors, video management, communications, and information gathered by external assets such as satellites and unmanned aircraft. Depending on configuration, Thales says CoastShield can provide surveillance extending to 100 nautical miles.
This integrated approach is becoming increasingly important as maritime authorities seek a single operational picture assembled from numerous sensors. Thales' ability to combine sensing, communications, and command technologies gives it a strong position in complex national and regional coastal-security programs.
4. Lockheed Martin
Lockheed Martin's capabilities in radar, satellites, aircraft, artificial intelligence, autonomous systems, and C4ISR give the company a broad role in maritime surveillance. Rather than concentrating only on fixed coastal sensors, it is increasingly applying advanced processing to the challenge of identifying targets across large maritime areas.
In July 2025, Lockheed Martin reported a successful flight demonstration of an AI-enabled Synthetic Aperture Radar system capable of automatic maritime-target recognition. The technology illustrates an important direction for the industry: using AI to help analysts identify relevant targets from large volumes of radar imagery.
Combining airborne or space-based sensing with AI-supported recognition can extend situational awareness beyond the coastal radar horizon, complementing fixed surveillance infrastructure and improving monitoring across wider maritime areas.
5. SAAB
Saab has considerable experience in radar, naval technology, command systems, electronic warfare, and airborne surveillance. Its growing coastal-surveillance portfolio reflects demand for sensors capable of detecting smaller and faster objects in complex littoral environments.
In February 2025, Saab launched its Coast Control Radar, a non-rotating phased-array system developed for coastal monitoring. The software-defined radar can detect small and fast-moving objects while multiple units can be combined to provide wider coverage.
Saab also offers the Sea Giraffe radar family and GlobalEye airborne early warning and control platform. These technologies allow the company to address maritime awareness at several levels, from localized coastal detection to wide-area airborne surveillance. Its emphasis on software-defined sensing could become increasingly valuable as customers seek systems that can evolve without extensive hardware replacement.
6. Elbit Systems
Elbit Systems combines radar, electro-optics, communications, intelligence technologies, unmanned systems, and centralized command-and-control within its coastal surveillance offering. Distributed sensor stations can be connected with control centers, allowing authorities to monitor vessels and low-altitude activity across extensive coastal areas.
Electro-optical sensors complement radar by giving operators visual information for target identification during both day and night operations. Elbit has also expanded its use of AI-supported analytics and advanced ISR payloads. Its experience across border security, naval technology, electronic warfare, and unmanned systems provides a broad technology base for customers seeking integrated maritime-security networks rather than standalone sensors.
7. Kongsberg
Kongsberg's maritime surveillance capabilities extend from satellites to the seabed. Its cView situational-awareness platform can combine AIS, satellite AIS, radar, optical imagery, and synthetic aperture radar information to create a more comprehensive view of maritime activity.
This approach is valuable for identifying vessels that stop transmitting reliable AIS information or operate beyond conventional coastal radar coverage. Kongsberg expanded its underwater surveillance capabilities in August 2026 with Aegir SSA, a sonar family developed for persistent subsea situational awareness around ports, harbors, offshore facilities, and critical maritime infrastructure.
By combining satellite information, terrestrial sensors, autonomous technology, and subsea surveillance, Kongsberg addresses a growing requirement for security systems capable of monitoring activity above, on, and below the water.
8. Indra Sistemas
Indra Sistemas specializes in integrated surveillance networks that connect distributed sensors with centralized command facilities. The company says its maritime and border surveillance technologies have been deployed across more than 7,000 kilometers of coastline.
Its architecture can incorporate radar, electro-optical sensors, AIS, communications, intelligence systems, and command-and-control technology. This scalability is particularly valuable for countries with extensive coastlines, island territories, strategic ports, and geographically dispersed monitoring requirements.
Indra also brings expertise in AESA radar, air defense, traffic management, and digital command systems. Its strength lies in combining these technologies into operational networks rather than treating each sensor as an independent system.
9. Furuno
Furuno has built its reputation around marine electronics and is particularly relevant to commercial ports, maritime authorities, offshore operators, and civilian coastal-monitoring applications. Its expertise includes marine radar, navigation, AIS, communications, and vessel traffic systems.
The company's TZ Coastal Monitoring solution combines Furuno radar with TIMEZERO-based surveillance software. It can integrate radar tracks with AIS, cameras, alarms, and weather information to improve situational awareness around ports, oil and gas facilities, aquaculture sites, protected marine areas, and industrial waterfronts.
Furuno's established presence in commercial marine electronics gives it a distinctive position in a market where coastal security increasingly overlaps with vessel traffic management, navigation safety, and port operations.
10. Bharat Electronics Limited
Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) is an important participant in India's defense-electronics ecosystem, with capabilities spanning radar, naval systems, communications, electro-optics, electronic warfare, command-and-control, and homeland security.
Its coastal surveillance expertise is particularly relevant to India's requirement to monitor an extensive coastline, island territories, ports, and maritime approaches. Effective surveillance across such geography requires distributed radar and sensor stations to communicate with command centers where vessel movements can be analyzed and suspicious activity identified.
BEL's domestic manufacturing position also gives it strategic significance as India expands indigenous development of maritime, naval, and border-security technologies.
11. Terma
Terma is strongly associated with dedicated coastal radar through its SCANTER family. These systems support coastal monitoring, port protection, vessel traffic services, naval surveillance, and critical-infrastructure security.
In July 2025, Terma announced an agreement to provide 32 coastal surveillance radars to Denmark, including systems designated for Greenland. Two months later, it announced the delivery of 51 SCANTER 5202 radars for modernization of Sweden's coastal surveillance network.
These projects demonstrate the continuing importance of shore-based radar even as satellite, airborne, and autonomous surveillance expands. Terma's focus on detecting small and non-cooperative targets in demanding maritime environments makes the company particularly relevant to European coastal-security modernization.
12. Wärtsilä
Wärtsilä brings a commercial maritime perspective to coastal awareness. Its capabilities in vessel traffic management, navigation, port systems, marine technology, and digital operations address environments where security, traffic safety, and operational efficiency increasingly overlap.
Busy waterways require authorities to maintain continuous awareness of vessel movements, recognize abnormal behavior, coordinate traffic, and respond rapidly when dangerous situations emerge. Radar, AIS, cameras, communications, and traffic-management software all contribute to this operating picture.
Wärtsilä's strength lies in connecting these technologies with real-world maritime operations, particularly around ports and high-traffic waterways where surveillance must support both safety and security.
13. HENSOLDT
HENSOLDT contributes advanced radar, electro-optical, electronic warfare, identification, and sensor technologies to maritime and coastal security. Its capabilities are especially relevant as surveillance networks shift toward sensor fusion.
Radar can provide continuous detection, electro-optical equipment can assist with identification, and electronic sensors can provide additional information about potential targets. Combining these sources gives operators a more complete picture of activity around coastlines and strategic maritime assets.
HENSOLDT's experience in naval radar and defense sensing also positions the company to benefit from European investment in maritime awareness, port security, offshore infrastructure protection, and wider defense modernization.
How Is Coastal Surveillance Technology Evolving?
The most significant change in coastal surveillance is the transition from individual sensors to connected intelligence networks. Radar remains indispensable, but authorities increasingly want radar tracks correlated with AIS records, camera imagery, satellite observations, sonar information, and historical vessel behavior.
Artificial intelligence is accelerating this transition. AI can help identify unusual movements, classify targets, process radar imagery, reduce operator workload, and prioritize potential threats. At the same time, satellite surveillance and long-endurance unmanned aircraft are extending monitoring far beyond the coastline, while underwater sensors are becoming more important for protecting ports, pipelines, subsea cables, and offshore energy infrastructure.
Software-defined radar represents another important shift. Instead of replacing hardware whenever operational requirements change, customers can increasingly introduce new functionality through software upgrades. This creates greater flexibility as maritime threats and target profiles evolve.
Future Outlook for the Coastal Surveillance Market
The future of coastal surveillance will be shaped less by individual sensors and more by how effectively information from different systems can be combined. Maritime authorities must monitor commercial shipping while simultaneously identifying illegal fishing, smuggling, unauthorized vessels, unmanned systems, and suspicious activity near critical infrastructure.
As a result, surveillance networks will increasingly connect shore-based radar with electro-optical systems, satellites, aircraft, autonomous platforms, underwater sensors, and AI-supported command centers. Persistent monitoring of subsea infrastructure is also likely to become a larger security priority as countries focus more closely on offshore energy facilities and communications cables.
With the global Coastal Surveillance Market estimated at USD 41,209.87 million in 2026 and projected to reach USD 58,709.09 million by 2035, the industry is steadily moving toward connected, multi-domain maritime awareness. Northrop Grumman, Raytheon, Thales Group, Lockheed Martin, SAAB, Elbit Systems, Kongsberg, Indra Sistemas, Furuno, Bharat Electronics, Terma, Wärtsilä, and HENSOLDT each approach the opportunity from different technological strengths, reflecting how broad and increasingly interconnected modern coastal surveillance has become.
