Europe Small UAV Market

Description

The small UAV market is poised to grow significantly in the European segment, expected to register a CAGR of XX% during the forecast period 2017-2022. UAVs, short for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (commonly known as drones), have found wide-ranging applications in many fields, ranging from military related combat purposes to general application (like topography assessment, package delivery, video recording/photography, etc). Valued at US$ XX in 2017, the market is projected to reach a valuation worth US$ XX by 2022.

End Users

Small UAVs (SUAVs) are typically portable UAVs that can be transported and launched like an infantry man-portable-air-defence system. While UAVs are generally associated with air-defence and rescue related applications, there have also been recent discussions on their potential as carriers by commercial agencies. They are also quite popular among geologists for their ability to map and video-graph topographical landscapes and project them as 3D map models.

Market Dynamics

In an effort to oust competition from Israel and USA, Europe has started investing resources into development and manufacture of small UAVs locally. This comes amidst the rising popularity of drones, both within military as well as commercial functionality. While primarily adopted by the military for surveillance and data gathering purposes, small UAVs have begun to enjoy high adoption rates within the retail sector as well. They are being tested for compatibility in many other sectors, such as geography, weather analysis, healthcare, etc. They have even found wide-ranging applications within the consumer sector, especially within market segments such as toys and hobbyist related.

While being home to most of the global aerospace giants and cutting-edge research and innovation has helped the market’s growth, many factors threaten to pull down and hurdle estimated growth. Chief amongst these are restricted airspace, concern over privacy and security compromises, potential dangers, etc. Addressing concerns such as these would definitely boost the market’s growth, coupled with rising competition amongst rivalling manufacturers, as a result of which product costs compete for the lower segments (thus empowering higher purchasing power at the consumer sector).

Market Segmentation

The market is segmented by application into military, civil, commercial, toy, and hobbyist markets. While military holds the highest place in terms of market share, the commercial segment is expected to grow further during the forecast period. Mainstream drone utility within the consumer sector is also gaining a lot of popularity these days.

Geographical Analysis

Considering how the market needs regions specifically rich in skilled work force coupled with ample research and funding, it is generally the bigger economies in the region that have invested interests into the small UAV market. These include France, Germany, UK, Spain, and Italy.
However, surprisingly it is the Swiss who are noteworthy for exceptionally precise and functional drone manufacturing. This is in coherence with the country’s long history with precision engineering and expertise in measurement and material sciences.

Key players

The key players in the small UAV market in Europe include Boeing Corporation, Thales SA, Airbus GroupSwissDrones, Flyability, senseFly, and Lockheed Martin.