Evolution of European UAV Market

the past dec­ade, procurement has been very mod­est and mostly confined to modest numbers of tactical UAV systems. More ambitious programs are now underway, with most of the major armed forces acquiring more modern tactical UAV systems and beginning to acquire endurance systems compa­rable to the US Air Force Predator.

The pattern of UAV deployment in Europe has been markedly differ­ent than in the US, with widespread deployment of new tactical UAV systems over the past decade, but few endurance systems comparable to Global Hawk. The acquisition pat­tern of UAVs in Europe has also pro­vided a curious barometer of the pro­gress of European defense integra­tion. Despite all the consolidation of the European aerospace industries over the past decade, participation in multi-national programs has actually diminished if UAVs are any indica­tion of the trends. In view of the nov­elty of the technology, it might have been expected that the European armed forces would have joined to develop and manufacture common UAV systems since the requirements are so similar. The opposite has been the case, with a dearth of joint pro­grams and a plethora of separate UAV efforts.

As a result of the slow pace of en­durance UAV development in Eu­rope, there has been a propensity of the major European forces to acquire MALE UAVs off-the-shelf, such as the Italian purchase of Predator and the British and French purchase of Reaper, while other countries with immediate needs in Afghanistan such as Germany have turned to leasing. Turkey has seen been unusually active in the UAS field over the past several years. This is in part due to its military actions in Syria, Nagorno-Krabakh and Libya where Turkish armed drones have seen extensive use. Turkey is now beginning to play a significant role in the export market for armed drones.