Teal Group analyst forecasts world UAV systems market to grow from $6 billion this year to $11.3 billion in 2020

Posted by Courtney E. HowardWASHINGTON, 19 Aug. 2011.Unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) spending will nearly double over the next decade, growing from current worldwide UAV expenditures of $5.9 billion to $11.3 billion annually—reaching more than $94 billion in the next 10 years, according to Teal Group's 2011 market study. Philip Finnegan, director of corporate analysis at Teal Group in Fairfax, Va., presented Teal Group’s UAV market findings during "Emerging Market Trends According to the Experts,” a panel discussion at the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) show in Washington.

"The UAV market will continue to be strong despite cuts in defense spending. UAVs have proved their value in Iraq and Afghanistan and will be a high priority for militaries in the United States and worldwide," says Finnegan, director of corporate analysis and an author of the study at Teal Group, a member of AUVSI and an aerospace and defense analysis firm.

The U.S. market is expected to account for 77 percent of worldwide research, development, test, and evaluation (RDT&E) spending on UAV technology over the next decade, and roughly 69 percent of the procurement.

"We expect that the sales of UAVs will follow recent patterns of high-tech arms procurement worldwide, with the Asia-Pacific representing the second largest market, followed very closely by Europe," says Steve Zaloga, Teal Group senior analyst and another author of the 458-page study. "Africa and Latin America are expected to continue to be very modest markets for UAVs."

The eighth edition of the sector study, “World Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Systems, Market Profile and Forecast 2011,” examines the worldwide requirements for UAVs, including UAV payloads and companies, and provides 10-year forecasts by country, region, and class of UAVs.