Armed UAVs will dominate the unmanned vehicle market by 2025, according to a forecast by market research firm Strategic Defense Intelligence.
Unmanned combat aerial vehicles (UCAV) will account for 34 percent of the market. The current UCAV market is estimated at $2.6 billion in 2015, and is forecast to reach $4.4 billion by 2015, reflecting a compound annual growth rate of 5.3 percent.
UCAV demand in Europe will grow at 8.9 percent, and in Asia at 6.2 percent between 2015 and 2025. Though the forecast expect the U.S. UCAV market to grow more slowly at 1.8 percent, America will remain the largest market. “Successful deployment of armed UAVs in the fight against terrorism has been beneficial for UAV manufacturers, and, with the US poised to increase their defense expenditure on drones, the North American market is going to retain its dominance over other regions,” says Strategic Defense Intelligence analyst Sravan Kumar Gorantala.
The report also estimates that medium altitude long endurance (MALE) UAVs will grow at 7.3 percent, and high altitude long endurance (HALE) drones at 5.1 percent.
