UAV purchases to double, despite deep defense cuts

While defense budgets are slated to be slashed over the coming decade, both in the United States and abroad, the unmanned aerial vehicle market will continue to see record sales, a new study by aerospace and defense market analysts the Teal Group found, reports The Hill.

Even though purchases of drones -- used for everything from surveillance and intelligence gathering to precise combat attacks -- have already spiked, the group believes they will continue to increase, doubling in size to more than $11 billion worldwide in the next 10 years, due in large part to the U.S. military, which will be responsible for 77 percent of the research and development funding, and 69 percent of the acquisitions, the report says.

In addition to UAVs purchased for military purposes, the report says “a civil UAV market will slowly emerge over the next decade, starting first with government organizations requiring surveillance systems similar to military UAVs such as coast guards, border patrol organizations and similar national security organizations.”