Global Defense Drone Market to Surpass $16,902.0 Million by 2028, Owing to the Increasing Adoption of Advanced Technologies in Drones

Defense drones, also known as Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV), are remotely piloted aircraft used for monitoring, surveillance, target acquisition, mapping, intelligence, reconnaissance, and battle damage management. These drones are used to identify security and terrorism-related challenges as well as vulnerable areas that are prone to several national security risks. For many years now, drones have been an essential asset in the military sector and play a vital role in performing high-level military tactics to enhance the security & sovereignty of the country.

COVID-19 Impact on Defense Drone Market

The outbreak of COVID-19 across the globe has unfavorably impacted the global defense drone market growth. The negative defense drone market growth is majorly because governments around the world turned their focus towards addressing public health crisis from counter terrorism & surveillance operations. Besides, the shortage of materials/components required in the assembling and manufacturing of equipment used in the defense drones such as radar, C4ISR product type, acoustic sensors, electro-optical/infrared (EO/IR), positioning sensors, embedded navigation, and others have negatively impacted the defense drone market growth during the pandemic period.

Defense Drone Market Trends and Developments

The companies operating in the global industry are adopting several growth strategies and business tactics such as partnerships, collaboration, business expansion, and product launches to obtain a leading position in the global industry, which is predicted to drive the global defense drone market growth in the upcoming years.

For instance, in June 2020, Thales Group, the leading service provider for the aerospace, defense, transportation, and security markets, and the State of North Dakota entered into a definitive agreement in order to come up with an unmanned aircraft systems network for conducting beyond visual line of sight operations/BVLOS. The company is planning to coordinate with a consortium of firms from North Dakota for carrying out systems integration and offer engineering services.

In July 2020, SRC Inc., the New York-based research & development company, secured a potential five-year USD 425.9M contract from the U.S. army to produce a defense system against small drones. The company will help the branch by deploying an Expeditionary-Slow, Low, Small Unmanned Aircraft System Integrated Defeat System, and also provide support services as part of the cost-plus-fixed-fee, cost-no-fee, and firm-fixed-price contract.

In December 2020, Elistair, a leading developer of tethered base stations, announced the launch of its latest tethered drone namely, ‘Orion 2’ with applications in military, government, and industry. The unmanned aircraft system or drone provides continuous surveillance with an endurance of nearly 24 hours.

Forecast Analysis of Global Defense Drone Market

The global defense drone market is projected to witness an exponential growth over the forecast period, owing to the continuous technological advancements and strategic steps taken by key market players operating in the global market. Conversely, the high costs associated with defense drone is expected to hamper the market growth in the projected timeframe.

The increasing defense expenditure by major countries across the globe for research & development of military aviation navigation & surveillance, and the growing adoption of advanced technologies in the drone industry are the significant factors and defense drone market trends estimated to bolster the growth of the global market in the coming future. According to a latest report published by Research Dive, the global defense drone market is expected to garner $16,902.0 million during the forecast period (2021-2028). Regionally, the North America defense drone market is estimated to observe lucrative growth by 2028, owing to the presence of well-established infrastructure in the military aviation and the strong emphasis on the R&D of defense drone in the military product type and civil aviation.

Key Players in the Global Defense Drone Market

1. General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc.
2. Northrop Grumman Corporation,
3. Lockheed Martin Corporation
4. Elbit Systems Ltd.,
5. Textron Systems,
6. AeroVironment, Inc.
7. Thales Group
8. Boeing
9. Israel aerospace industries ltd
10. SAAB Group