The UAV Market is expected to reach USD 58.4 billion by 2026, at a CAGR of 16.4% during the forecast period. The UAV market is growing at a significant rate across the world, and a similar trend is expected to be observed during the forecast period. Increased adoption of UAV in civil and commercial applications, rising demand for UAV in military applications, surged use of UAV in disaster relief operations and improvements in regulatory frameworks related to drone operations are factors which are fuelling the growth of the UAV market.

With the incorporation of new technologies such as artificial intelligence, sense and avoid systems, and cloud computing in UAV, their demand is expected to increase further. The incorporation of artificial intelligence in UAV has not only enhanced their capabilities but has also enabled them to carry out several activities such as takeoff, navigation, data capture, data transmission, and data analysis without human intervention.

Prior to the outbreak COVID-19 pandemic, UAVs were widely used by militaries for a variety of missions like border security, while governments and law enforcement agencies used them on an experimental basis. For civil & commercial applications they were being used for the transportation of medical supplies and mostly for aerial photography purposes for the entertainment and news industry. The situation has altered drastically post COVID-19. Due to intermittent lockdowns and imposition of social distancing protocols worldwide, there has been halts in production of UAVs due to shortage of raw materials and staff to carry out manufacturing operation in 2020. In 2021 as well, due to re-emergence of second wave of infections, the UAV production is hindered, and it might need more than six months to get back to pre-Covid 19 production scale or to retain normal functioning of UAV supply chain