Unmanned Systems Market Trends

Statistics for the 2023 & 2024 Unmanned Systems market trends, created by Mordor Intelligence™ Industry Reports. Unmanned Systems trend report includes a market forecast to 2029 and historical overview. Get a sample of this industry trends analysis as a free report PDF download.

Market Trends of Unmanned Systems Industry

The Unmanned Sea Systems Segment to Witness the Highest Growth During the Forecast Period

  • The unmanned sea systems segment of the market is anticipated to witness the highest CAGR during the forecast period. Currently, the use of unmanned sea systems is higher by various research organizations for deep-sea exploration. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), the demand for natural gas is anticipated to grow by 1.5% up to 2025. Oil and gas will play vital roles in the future and account for around 44% of the world's primary energy supply in 2050. The oil and gas companies highly adopted unmanned underwater vehicles for making seafloor maps.
  • In October 2021, Boxfish Research, a New Zealand-based company with its Norwegian partner Transmark Subsea launched the ARV-I, a new class of underwater sea vehicles. The vehicles offer users operational flexibility and are configurable for fully autonomous manual control or self-piloting.
  • Furthermore, in July 2022, Leidos signed a contract worth USD 358.5 million with the US Navy to develop a medium-size unmanned undersea vehicle for torpedo tube-launched data collection operations and surface-launched mine countermeasures. The use of autonomous surface and underwater vehicles by educational institutes is supporting this growth.
  • Moreover, in the military sector, the United States, China, and Russia are working toward increasing their fleet of unmanned sea systems. The US Navy is planning to develop and procure three types of large unmanned vehicles (UVs) that includes large unmanned surface vehicles (LUSVs), medium unmanned surface vehicles (MUSVs), and extra-large unmanned undersea vehicles (XLUUVs).
  • The US Navy proposed FY2023 budget requests of USD 549.3 million in funding for these unmanned vehicles and USD 60.7 million in additional for core technologies for XLUUV and other UUVs. Moreover, in March 2021, the Navy and the Marine Corps published the Unmanned Campaign Framework to guide their investments in and integration of unmanned platforms in the United States. Further, increasing investments in strengthening the navy and the country's defense systems shall aid in developing the demand for unmanned sea systems for defense purposes.
Unmanned Systems Market: Budget of the US Navy and the US Marine Corps, 2018-2022, (USD Billion)

The Asia-Pacific Region is Expected to Generate the Highest Demand during the Forecast Period

  • Asia-Pacific is anticipated to witness the highest growth during the forecast period, majorly due to robust investments from countries like China, India, and Japan into unmanned systems. This growth is attributed due to a rise in defense expenditure by the countries in this region, along with the changing regulations for the use of unmanned systems in the commercial sector.
  • Countries such as India, Japan, and Indonesia are currently working on the use of unmanned aerial vehicles for the transportation of parcels and cargo. Growing procurement of next-generation unmanned systems from China, India, Australia, and others due to rising cross-border conflicts, growing terrorism, and political unrest among neighboring countries drive the growth of the market across the region.
  • Similarly, the development of unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs) is being carried out in South Korea, Japan, and China, among others, to assist their armed forces with a range of manual handling tasks, like moving heavy loads and field equipment and casualty evacuations.
  • In September 2022, Japan-based Drone Fund (DF) tied up with drone major Aerodyne India Group to invest in manufacturing facilities, and the company is planning to invest USD 40 million in the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) ecosystem in India. In addition to that, in April 2022, India's Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) started developing an unmanned ground combat vehicle based on the Arjun Mk.1A tank.
  • Furthermore, in August 2022, the research team from eastern China developed a submarine drone prototype that could fly in the air at high speed. In March 2022, Boeing's Insitu Pacific Pty Ltd supplied twenty-four new unmanned aerial surveillance systems developed in Brisbane to the Australian Army. The cost of the project was USD 650 million.
Unmanned Systems Market: Unmanned System Market - Growth Rate by Region (2023 - 2028)

Unmanned Systems Market Size & Share Analysis - Growth Trends & Forecasts (2024 - 2029)