Teal: UAV global market to reach $62B

Unmanned aerial vehicles will continue to be the most dynamic growth sector of the global aerospace industry primarily because of the heavy investment in UAVs by the U.S. military, according to the Teal Group.

The Fairfax, Va., aerospace and defense analysis firm reported in February that UAV spending will nearly double from current worldwide UAV expenditures of $4.4 billion annually to $8.7 billion within a decade, totaling slightly more than $62 billion in the next 10 years.

“The most significant catalyst to this market has been the enormous growth of interest in UAVs by the U.S. military, tied to a general trend toward information warfare and net-centric systems,” said Teal Group senior analyst Steve Zaloga, one of the authors of an in-depth study on the topic.

“UAVs are a key element in the intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance portion of this revolution, and they are expanding into other mission as well with the advent of hunter-killer UAVs,” he said.

The United States will account for 72 percent of the worldwide research, development, test and evaluation spending on UAV technology over the next decade, and about 61 percent of the procurement, according to the firm. Europe represents the second largest market, and Asia-Pacific follows closely in third.