Teal Group Study: Military Drone Market Could Hit $98B by 2029

An annual study from market analysis firm Teal Group says worldwide spending on unmanned aerial vehicles is expected to grow in the next 10 years as military agencies invest approximately $98B in new strike and intelligence collection capabilities, National Defense reported Monday.

Global spending on drone procurement and research-and-development efforts is projected to grow from $11.1B in 2020 to $14.3B by 2029, according to Teal Group’s “World Military Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Systems 2019/2020 Market Profile and Forecast” study.

Steve Zaloga, a senior analyst and co-author of the study, said the rising demand for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance platforms, the ability to carry out long-range unmanned strike operations and enhancements in sensor payloads are some of the factors that will drive investments in UAVs worldwide. “The early drone systems tended to be oriented towards ISR missions. Now we’re seeing an increasing fraction being devoted to armed missions,” he added.

He said U.S. spending on drone-related R&D initiatives will rise from $2.2B this year to $2.7B by the end of the decade. The country’s UAV procurement is expected to increase to approximately $3.3B by 2029, up from $2.5B in 2020.