A $54B UAV Sector from 2006-2016?

N-UCAS X-47B concept(click to view full) In February 2006, DID published a report from the Teal Group that put the global UAV and missile market at $103.7 billion between 2005-2016. Discussions with the Teal Group pegged the UAV procurement market at 17,976 projected units valued at $12.5 billion, or 12.1%. Market forecasts are always educated guesses, and they vary. In November 2005, we covered a Forecast International report that placed the UAV market at $13.6 billion from 2006-2014. Now a forthcoming Teal Group market study adds R&D, maintenance, related sensors, et. al. to their total, and estimates that overall UAV sector spending will more than triple over the next decade… to a much higher figure than the ones offered in earlier procurement-only reports. Pointer UAV launch From $2.7 billion annually, Teal forecasts that annual UAV spending across all areas will rise to $8.3 billion a decade from now, totaling $54-55 billion between 2007-2016 inclusive. The study suggests that the US will account for 77% of the worldwide UAV RDT&E spending (vs. its 67% global defense RDT&E share) and about 64% of the procurement (vs. its 37% overall global share). “These discrepancies are due to the heavier US investment in cutting-edge […]