At IFS Connect UKI 2025 in Birmingham, UK, the aerospace and defense (A&D) industry wasn’t just on the agenda—it was at the core of the conversation. In a comprehensive presentation, Vijay Hadavale, Director of A&D Presales for Europe, unveiled how IFS is aligning its cloud platform, AI innovation, and regulatory readiness to meet the rapidly evolving demands of aviation, defense, and complex asset operators.
“Whether you’re building, maintaining, or sustaining assets, A&D is defined by precision, compliance, and operational resilience,” Hadavale stated. “Our job at IFS is to deliver those outcomes at scale, without compromising agility or security.”
That commitment is reflected in IFS Cloud’s expanding functionality across the A&D lifecycle—from fleet and CAMO (Continuing Airworthiness Management Organization) operations to complex component MRO and asset-heavy project manufacturing. As of the 25R1 release, IFS includes out-of-the-box support for radical inspection, project payment planning, field-level access control, and integrated sustainability reporting aligned with global defense and aerospace regulations.
A&D companies operate in a high-stakes environment where downtime, data leaks, or compliance lapses are not options. IFS is addressing these concerns through continuous hardening of its platform, including enhanced zero-downtime deployment, on-demand VPN creation, and fine-grained permissions—even at custom field levels within workflows.
The platform is also advancing its high-availability infrastructure to deliver 99.99% uptime for defense and aviation clients. “We know many of our customers are operating in environments where a missed second could mean a missed mission,” Hadavale explained. “IFS is built for those conditions.”
Security and sovereignty remain key priorities. IFS is pursuing CMMC 2.0 compliance for U.S. defense contractors and expanding its Eurozone-restricted access cloud, aligning with GDPR and defense-specific certifications like NIST 800-171 and FedRAMP, ensuring that customers in highly regulated sectors can safely adopt IFS Cloud and IFS.ai without compromise.
While AI has become an industry buzzword, IFS is integrating it as a practical enabler of mission readiness. Leveraging over 200 AI-driven use cases across six verticals, IFS is bringing its Planning and Scheduling Optimization (PSO) engine to aviation maintenance and manufacturing environments, where real-time decision-making is mission-critical.
One standout feature is the intelligent copilot for maintenance and quality analysis, capable of summarizing non-conformance reports and correlating past issues to offer prescriptive recommendations—transforming data overload into actionable intelligence.
“We’re not giving you a toolkit and wishing you luck,” Hadavale emphasized. “These are embedded, pre-trained AI agents designed for A&D-specific use cases like APU maintenance, fleet health analysis, and supplier anomaly detection.”
What this means for ERP Insiders
A&D companies should zero in on high-friction processes. Defense OEMs, MRO providers, and commercial aviation operators should reassess their ERP strategies through the lens of mission-critical digitalization. Begin by identifying high-friction processes—fleet visibility, CAMO planning, or quality tracking—and align them with IFS Cloud’s embedded AI capabilities. Evaluate whether regulatory compliance, such as CMMC 2.0 or GDPR, is covered natively by your current system. If not, IFS offers a platform already hardened for defense. For organizations seeking secure innovation without sacrificing speed, IFS’s hybrid deployment models and sector-specific AI tooling offer a compelling modernization path.
IFS ticks most boxes when it comes to unique A&D requirements. IFS stands out in A&D for delivering a vertically integrated, single-platform solution that spans build-to-sustain operations. Its deep functionality in fleet maintenance, heavy MRO, and integrated project manufacturing is coupled with powerful scheduling engines and embedded AI use cases—many of which are tailored to A&D. Tools like CAMO task cards, real-time maintenance portals, and quality copilots are not theoretical—they’re live and evolving with each biannual release. IFS’s ongoing investment in high availability, fine-grained access control, and ESG-ready reporting makes it one of the few ERP providers truly engineered for the unique requirements of the A&D sector.
Market forces favor IFS in A&D sector. The global A&D ERP market is projected to grow by 8.7% CAGR through 2030, driven by digitization, fleet modernization, and compliance pressures. IFS’s focused R&D, rapid AI productization, and compliance roadmap position it strongly against generalist ERP vendors. Unlike Oracle or SAP, which often require significant customization for A&D-specific use cases, IFS delivers out-of-the-box depth across maintenance, manufacturing, and sustainment. If IFS maintains its pace of innovation and deepens global cloud service resilience, it is well-positioned to be the go-to ERP provider for A&D enterprises seeking secure, agile, and intelligent transformation.
