Drone Sales Flourish in a Time of Austerity

Philip Finnegan, director of corporate analysis at Teal Group, an aerospace consulting firm based in Fairfax, Virginia, said he expected the 2014 U.S. budget to propose reductions in existing drone programs in favor of “next generation systems, stealthier, with more power, and capable of operating autonomously if jammed by opponents.” Among major competitors to the U.S. drone makers, Mr. Finnegan lists Israeli companies — in some cases working with Indian partners — and Brazilian programs aimed at that country’s need to patrol far-flung jungle borders and a long Atlantic coastline. Also emerging as future competitors, in Mr. Finnegan’s view, are Turkish Aerospace Industries; Denel, the South African state-owned aerospace and defense technology group; and some Chinese companies.