Forecast for Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Drones is Extraordinarily Robust with Market Projected to Triple in Value by 2030
MarketNewsUpdates News Commentary
NEW YORK, Dec. 03, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Artificial Intelligence (AI) is reportedly transforming drones and unmanned aerial vehicles from remote-controlled devices into autonomous, intelligent agents that have the capabilities to perform intricate tasks across various industries with minimal human intervention. A report from MarketAndMarkets said that the global UAV market is projected to grow from USD 26.12 billion in 2025 to USD 40.56 billion by 2030, at a CAGR of 9.2% and by volume, UAV shipments are expected to rise from 596.94 thousand units in 2025 to 869.76 thousand units in 2030. The report said that the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) industry is entering a transformative phase where artificial intelligence (AI) is no longer an optional add-on but a core enabler of autonomy, safety, and mission effectiveness. While technological advancements in composite materials, imaging sensors, and battery systems contribute to this growth, it is the integration of AI with UAVs—from edge computing and computer vision to swarm intelligence—that is unlocking the most disruptive applications. AI-driven UAVs are reshaping industries ranging from defense and logistics to agriculture and public safety, while also creating new opportunities in commercial ecosystems. The report added that several trends explain why AI is a pivotal growth engine for the UAV market: "Demand for autonomy: Enterprises and defense forces seek UAVs that can execute missions with minimal human oversight, requiring AI-based perception, navigation, and decision-making; Shift toward Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS): Regulatory easing and AI-powered detect-and-avoid systems are enabling UAVs to fly farther and safer, opening applications in long-range logistics, border patrol, and disaster response; Explosion of data-driven use cases: UAVs generate terabytes of visual, thermal, and geospatial data. AI analytics turn this raw data into actionable insights for asset inspection, surveillance, and precision agriculture; Edge computing maturity: Advances in low-power AI accelerators (NPUs, GPUs, FPGAs) allow drones to process data on-board in real time, reducing reliance on cloud connectivity. In short, AI enhances UAV autonomy, intelligence, and adaptability—three pillars that directly correlate with expanding market size and applications." Active Companies leading the way in autonomous and/or artificial intelligence operations include VisionWave Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:VWAV), Safe Pro Group Inc. (NASDAQ:SPAI), BigBear.ai Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BBAI), Ondas Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:ONDS), AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV).
MarketAndMarkets added: "The fully autonomous UAV segment is projected to grow at the highest CAGR during 2025–2030. Fully autonomous drones are already proving indispensable in reconnaissance, logistics, and tactical missions. For instance, military UAV swarms rely on decentralized AI to coordinate in contested environments, while commercial operators use autonomy for inventory monitoring and warehouse inspections. The synergy between AI and UAVs will expand the global market beyond USD 40 billion, with AI-centric UAVs capturing the majority of value creation."
VisionWave (NASDAQ:VWAV) Unveils Argus, A Space Enabled AI Counter Drone System to be Developed in Partnership with BladeRanger - VisionWave Technologies Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of VisionWave Holdings Inc. ($VWAV) ("VisionWave" or the "Company") announced that it has begun R&D on Argus, a space-enabled, AI-driven counter-drone (C-UAS) system created in collaboration with BladeRanger to defend against modern unmanned aircraft threats. Argus is designed to detect, classify, track, and defeat hostile unmanned aircraft across wide operational areas.
Argus takes its name from the many-eyed guardian in Greek mythology, symbolizing persistent and continuous watchfulness. It is designed as a global counter-drone kill chain that operates from space and uses high-frequency (HF) communications to coordinate defense assets across wide areas. The system combines space-based imaging, advanced object-recognition AI, resilient HF connectivity, and a layered mix of interceptors and effectors. VisionWave has completed the system architecture and plans to file a patent application in the coming weeks covering its core technical innovations (which application has not yet been filed and for which no assurance of allowance can be given).
"Modern conflicts have shown that small drones and loitering munitions can redefine the battlefield with little warning," said Doug Davis, VisionWave Chairman. "Argus is intended to be designed to provide nations with a theater-scale shield that can detect hostile drones from space, classify them instantly, and coordinate a precise response in real time, even in highly contested environments."
A space-enabled, AI-driven kill chain - Argus is intended to be designed to function as a persistent, multi-layered defense system. In the space segment, satellites equipped with EO/IR and optional SAR/RF payloads are expected to provide continuous monitoring of borders, critical infrastructure, ports, and urban areas. These sensors are intended to detect and track the full spectrum of small and tactical drones at operationally meaningful ranges, creating an early warning layer over wide areas.
On top of this sensor layer, Argus is intended to apply AI-driven, object-recognition technology that identifies structural features such as rotors, arms, fuselage, and wings. Using multi-view imagery, it reconstructs a virtual 3D model and fuses it with behavioral cues such as flight profile and loitering patterns to classify drone type, evaluate potential payloads, and generate a real-time threat score.
For resilient connectivity, Argus is intended to use an AI-controlled HF backbone that is expected to maintain beyond line-of-sight communications between satellites, ground stations, interceptor sites, and remote sensors, even when SATCOM, cellular, or microwave links are jammed or disabled. The HF system continuously models ionospheric conditions and selects frequencies, paths, and antenna configurations to preserve reliable links.
A dedicated security layer uses asynchronous encryption to harden GPS and command-and-control (C2) links used to send instructions to drones, sensors, and interceptors, and to receive status and telemetry from them. A proprietary asynchronous key exchange is intended to protect HF command and control channels and GPS correction messages, with the goal of making Argus highly resistant to jamming, spoofing, and man in the middle attacks. This cryptographic layer is designed to protect both navigation integrity and command authority in contested environments.
At the engagement layer, Argus is intended to use layered interceptors and effectors to coordinate a wide range of responses. These include interceptor drones, ground-based rapid-fire systems, RF jammers, deceptive navigation injectors, and optional lasers or high-power microwave assets. Together, they support both soft-kill and hard-kill options, allowing the system to tailor its response to each specific threat scenario.
Targeting major C-UAS defense market share - VisionWave is aiming for the global defense C-UAS market. The company believes the Argus architecture may position it uniquely in the rapidly expanding counter-drone domain. By combining space-based early warning, small-object recognition derived from facial-recognition heritage, all-weather HF connectivity, and strong encryption, VisionWave hopes to offer a system that can scale from national borders and strategic infrastructure to ports, bases, and high-value events.
"Most C-UAS solutions today are local with one radar, one camera, one gun protecting a single base or airport," said Shmulik Yannay, BladeRanger CEO. "Argus is designed from day one as a wide-area, multi-domain system. Our objective is to capture a major share of the global defense C-UAS market by offering a solution that is space-enabled, resilient, and ready for near-peer electronic warfare."
Argus will be built on existing VisionWave technologies that have already been developed and validated in other programs. These include advanced encryption for HF communications and GPS augmentation, patented pattern-recognition technology, and an AI-driven HF network for non-line-of-sight connectivity. Leveraging these assets is expected to shorten the Argus R&D timeline as the company advances from architecture and simulation into prototyping and field demonstrations; however, no assurance can be given that such timeline will be met or that the system will perform as anticipated. Continued… Read this full release and additional news for VWAV by visiting: https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/VWAV/news/
Other recent developments in the markets include:
Safe Pro Group Inc. (NASDAQ:SPAI), a developer of AI-enabled defense and security solutions, recently provided an operational update highlighting progress across its business units and against its near-term commercialization roadmap.
The update follows over $20 million in new strategic investments, including a $14 million equity investment at $7 per share led by Ondas Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:ONDS), a leading provider of autonomous drone technology. The additional capital is accelerating product development and go-to-market initiatives at Safe Pro's three core subsidiaries: Safe Pro AI, Airborne Response, and Safe-Pro USA.
"We're entering a new phase of execution and scale," said Dan Erdberg, Chairman and CEO of Safe Pro Group. "With a strengthened balance sheet and strong partners in the drone and defense sectors, we are accelerating the deployment of our AI, aerial services and ballistic products to serve critical defense, infrastructure, public safety and Humanitarian missions globally."
BigBear.ai (NYSE:BBAI), a leading provider of mission-ready AI for national security, announced a strategic Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Pahang Aerospace City Development Berhad (PAC), and its established partners Easy Lease, and Vigilix Technology Investment LLC, at the Dubai Air Show. The parties' goal is to accelerate the development and integration of advanced technologies throughout the Pahang Aerospace City.
Pahang Aerospace City is a national transit hub designed to support air, land, and sea modes of passenger travel for the Pahang State Government. The successful development of this project is expected to attract further significant domestic and foreign investment—strengthening Malaysia's aerospace and support industries, while enabling the establishment of the region's first international spaceport. BigBear.ai's initiatives with partners will focus on AI-driven border operations to help advance regional and international security.
AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV), a global defense technology leader delivering software-enabled disruptive autonomous systems, recently announced the next phase of its AV Halo™ unified mission software platform with the release of AV Halo CORTEX, a next-generation intelligence fusion and analysis environment, and AV Halo MENTOR, a warfighter readiness suite that spans immersive virtual and/or augmented reality (VR/AR) weapons training and mission rehearsal.
In September, AV launched AV Halo, a hardware-agnostic platform that unifies multi-domain command and control (C2), AI-enhanced intelligence, synthetic training, and autonomous targeting into a single open-standards ecosystem. The addition of CORTEX and MENTOR advances that ecosystem, bringing deeper intelligence fusion, enhanced situational awareness, and more sophisticated operator preparedness into the same unified architecture.
Ondas Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:ONDS), a leading provider of autonomous aerial and ground robot intelligence through its Ondas Autonomous Systems (OAS) business unit and private wireless solutions through Ondas Networks, recently announced that Brent Laing has joined Ondas Networks as an Independent Board Member and strategic advisor to help support the adoption of dot16 in the rail ecosystem in North America. The Association of American Railroads (AAR) Wireless Communications Committee (WCC) announced in September 2025 that dot16, pioneered by Ondas Networks, will serve as the upgrade path for the legacy 160 MHz LMR voice network, joining the 900 MHz and 450 MHz networks where dot16 has already been formally adopted.
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