Aerospace, defense, and government services (ADG)
companies are not new to game-changing technology innovations. It
is therefore no surprise that a number of ADG companies are early
investors in unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) technologies that many
predict will have a significant economic impact in 2017 and beyond.
The estimated economic impact of UAS varies, but the numbers are
all large. A recent Teal Group Corporation study estimates civil
UAS as a US$2.6bn market in 2016, quadrupling to US$10.9bn by 2025.
A recent PwC report estimates the global market value of
UAS-powered solutions at over US$127bn. In the United States,
assuming the regulatory framework keeps pace, some predict that the
domestic UAS industry will grow within the next decade to be a
US$82bn market while creating more than 100,000 new jobs. The FAA
also recently estimated that by 2020 there will be 11 million
commercial UAS sold in the U.S.
