Unmanned Helicopters Market Size, Market Share, Application Analysis, Regional Outlook, Growth Trends, Key Players, Competitive Strategies and Forecasts, 2021 to 2029

Helicopters have among the highest rates of crashes as compared to other aircrafts including airplanes, balloons and blimps. Although the fatality rate is relatively low, economic loss in helicopter crash is significantly high. Subsequently, unmanned helicopters have been developed in order to operate in critical operations posing danger to human life. Unmanned helicopters are unmanned systems designed to operate without any human operator onboard. These are equipped with artificial intelligence system along with a combination of sensors and autonomous control systems. This helps these helicopters to operate and navigate by themselves safely even in harsh environments having numerous obstacles.

The overall market is primarily driven by the rising expenditure by the governments over unmanned systems in the defense sector. Unmanned systems offer numerous advantages including reduced personnel loss, more efficient operation in harsh conditions and low overall cost of operation. In addition, unmanned helicopters offer the benefit of operation in critical terrains where unmanned aircraft face limitation in operation. Various national governments are promoting research activities for development of robust autonomous helicopter design. Similarly, aerospace & defense companies such as Lockheed Martin Corporation, Northrop Grumman Corporation, Saab Group and several others are investing heavily on designing more effective autonomous helicopter so as to cater to wide range of applications.

Apart from the defense sector, unmanned helicopters market is also driven by the increasing prospects for these helicopters across commercial applications. Unmanned helicopters are already being used for agriculture surveys and are considered to be viable solution for air cargo. Similarly, unmanned helicopters are believed to be significantly suitable for transporting passengers. Thus, wide range of prospective applications for unmanned helicopters is expected to substantially drive the overall market in the following years. However, challenges such as requirement of skilled personnel and limited radio control in remote areas pose significant challenge for unmanned helicopters. Continual efforts improving autonomous controls and flight time is expected to subside the impact of these challenges in the following years.

Some of the major players profiled in the report are Lockheed Martin Corporation, Northrop Grumman Corporation, Boeing Company, Airbus SE, Leonardo S.p.A., China North Industries Corporation (Norinco), Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC), Israel Aerospace Industries Ltd., Aeroscout GmbH, American Unmanned Systems, LLC, Aurora Flight Sciences (Boeing company), AirStar International, Inc., Yamaha Motor Company, Saab Group, Russian Нelicopters JSC and several others. Majority of the players are focused upon conducting extensive research & development for betterment of unmanned helicopters design. One of the major challenges for unmanned helicopters sector is payload carrying capacity and endurance. Companies operating in the market emphasize on developing designs capable of carrying more payload systems with minimized helicopter weight. In addition, several companies, especially in China, are inclined towards developing unmanned helicopters capable of conducting combat operations.

On the basis of application, the global unmanned helicopters market is segmented into following categories:

• Military & Defense
• Civil & Homeland Security
• Commercial

In 2020, the overall unmanned helicopters market worldwide was dominated by the military & defense segment. In 2020, the military & defense segment accounted for more than 50% of the total revenue generated globally. High revenue share of the segment is attributed to the strong expenditure over unmanned systems across different regions. Majority of unmanned helicopters are primarily designed to serve military applications so as to reduce the personnel loss occurring from manned helicopter casualties. With the growing emphasis towards expanding the unmanned systems fleet, the military & defense segment would continue dominating the market over the forecast period.

The civil & homeland security segment follows the military & defense segment. These unmanned systems are expected to gain popularity for applications such as disaster relief and surveillance among others. The commercial segment is set to register the highest growth in market over the forecast period. Autonomous helicopters are believed to emerge greatly efficient for applications such as cargo, transportation, photography and several others. Since eliminating human operator reduces operational cost significantly, autonomous helicopters may witness substantial demand in the following years.

Based on the geography, the global unmanned helicopters market is segmented as per following regions and countries:

• North America
• U.S.
• Canada
• Europe
• U.K.
• Germany
• France
• Russia
• Rest of Europe
• Asia Pacific
• Japan
• China
• South Asia
• Rest of Asia Pacific
• Rest of the World (RoW)
• Middle East & Africa (MEA)
• Latin America

The overall unmanned helicopters market worldwide is dominated by the North America region. In 2020, North America accounted for more than forty percent of the total unmanned helicopters market revenue generated worldwide. The market here is mainly backed by the U.S. having huge expenditure over unmanned systems for the defense sector. In addition, the country is home to large number of major aerospace & defense companies. These companies focus on extensive research & development for improving helicopter designs with an aim of acquiring contracts from the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD).

With the continually growing expenditure on expanding the unmanned systems fleet, North America is estimated to remain the largest market for unmanned helicopters in the following years. Nevertheless, Asia Pacific is poised to emerge as the most lucrative market for unmanned helicopters during the forecast period. China is projected to emerge as the major driving nation for unmanned helicopters industry in Asia Pacific. Apart from China, countries such as Japan, India and South Korea too represent promising markets. In addition, Russia and Israel too are prominent markets for unmanned helicopters.


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