In 2017, the defence and military segment dominated the global market, in terms of revenue. North America is expected to be the leading contributor to the global market revenue during the forecast period.
The rising incidences of misuse of drones and growing terrorist activities is expected to drive the growth of this market. Smugglers and traffickers are increasingly using drones for malicious and criminal activities, thereby increasing the demand of anti-drones. Other driving factors include technological advancement, and increasing investment in R&D.
There has also been an emerging threat from drones to critical infrastructure. A high number of cases of drone overflights at nuclear and power stations have been registered. In 2014, after several cases of overflights of reactors, French authorities invested $1.1 million for detection, identification, and neutralization of small aerial drones.
There has been a significant increase in spoofing and cyber-attacks. Spoofing is taking control of a drone by hacking the radio signal and sending commands to the aircraft from another control station. Valuable data can be stolen or deleted through cyber-attacks. Complaints registered against misuse of drones also include snooping, burglary, smuggling contraband into prisons, and mid-air near misses among others. Terrorists have started using drones to gather valuable intelligence on their enemies. All these factors have increased the adoption of anti-drone systems.
North America generated the highest revenue in the market in 2017, and is expected to lead the global market throughout the forecast period. The driving factors for anti-drone market in North America include increasing number of security breach incidents by unidentified drones and increasing terrorist activities. Recent incidences of riots & civil unrest have increased the demand for anti-drones in this region. North America spends high budgets for military expenditure and for research & development programs, which augment market growth.
The various end-users of anti-drones include defence and military, government, commercial, and others. In 2017, the defence and military sector accounted for the largest share in the global market, and is expected to maintain its lead during the forecast period. The demand for anti-drones in the military sector has increased owing to growing cases of smuggling, trespassing, and spying. Increasing need for border security, and threats from neighbouring countries support the adoption of anti-drones.
Leading companies in this space include; Saab, Thales Group, Raytheon, Lockheed Martin, Dedrone; Droneshield, Northrop Grumman, Theiss UAV Solutions, LLC, Blighter Surveillance Systems and Israel Aerospace Industries.