MILITARY ROBOTS MARKET ANALYSIS

The global military robots market size was valued at US$ 21,111.7 million in 2022 and is anticipated to witness a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6.33% from 2023 to 2030. The global military robots market will witness substantial growth in the near future and major growth drivers of the market include government investment, increased expenditure on military, and increasing adoption of advanced technologies. Increasing demand for automated systems is a key factor driving the development of the military robotics market. Another major driver is the demand for sophisticated unmanned systems to combat foreign attacks.

Global Military Robots Market: Regional Insights

The global military robots market is regionally divided into North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Middle East & Africa.

North America among regions is expected to dominate the global military robots market over the forecast period. The U.S. is a major contributor to the market in this region, due to growing military expenditure in the country. For instance, according to Coherent Market Insights, the military expenditure of the U.S. increased to US$ 778.23 billion in 2020, which is a 4.39% rise. Along with this, government of Canada is introducing different programs such as Strategic Aerospace and Defense Initiative and Technology Demonstration Program for supporting the R&D of novel technologies such as robotics into the defense and aerospace sector. Thus, the market is anticipated to witness substantial growth in the global military robots market over the forecast period.

Moreover, Asia Pacific is anticipated to witness substantial growth in the global military robots market over the forecast period. This can be attributed growing defense spending in countries such as China and India. For instance, according to Coherent Market Insights, the defense spending of government of China increased to US$ 252.3 billion in 2020 from US$ 196.54 billion in 2015. Furthermore, government of India has increased the procurement of unmanned systems to strengthen its border security. This in turn has led to increased defense expenditure of the country. Thus, these factors are expected to augment growth of the global military robots market across this region.

Figure 1: Global Military Robots Market Share (%), By Region, 2022

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Global Military Robots Market Drivers:

Growing investments in unmanned technologies to augment the market pace

In recent years the investments in research and development of next-generation robots that can be utilized in various combat and non-combat applications has increased significantly. Several governments are showing deep interest in leveraging the advantages that are offered by the robots in the military sector and they have started investing in autonomous military systems. Even with the strong focus on unmanned aerial vehicles, the investments in developing ground and sea-based robots have also increased in recent times. Thus, these factors are likely to fuel growth of the global military robots market over the forecast period.

Growing adoption of advanced technology to fuel the market growth

Machine-assisted and unmanned systems are being used for replacing people in various dangerous, mentally taxing, and physically grueling duties. Replacing humans with robots in military missions offers various advantages. Autonomous systems boost the force when used in tandem with the soldiers on the battlefield. These robots also help in reducing casualties as they remove human warfighters from dangerous missions. Due to such advantages, use of technologies such as Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence is in robotic systems is increasing in military segment, and this factor is likely to drive growth of the global military robots market over the forecast period.

Global Military Robots Market Opportunities:

Increasing global conflicts among countries are likely to create several growth opportunities in the global military robots market over the forecast period. Due to significant changes in the international strategic landscape, the international security system configuration has been undermined by increasing unilateralism, power politics, and hegemonism, which is fueling various global conflicts. As a result, governments of several countries in this regard are increasing their military expenditure for improving the security situation. This in turn is anticipated to offer lucrative opportunities in the market.

Furthermore, significant investments in unmanned platforms is expected to create lucrative environment for growth opportunities in the global military robots market over the forecast period. The increasing investment in research and development activities along with increasing innovations are likely to contribute a major share in the market growth. This is expected to create a competitive environment for market players. Moreover, joint exercises of technology demonstration, commercial off-the-shelf system, standardization, and consolidation within the defense supply chain is creating multiple opportunities in the market.

Global Military Robots Market Trends:

Increasing research activities is a major trend

Research activities are increasing in military segment around the world to enhance underwater acoustic communication as well as optical communication technology. For instance in January 2021, the Combat Capabilities Development Command of the U.S. Army Research Laboratory partnered with universities in North Carolina for the development of studies in bio-hybrid robotics. ARL plans to fuse living tissues with cold metal in order create robots that could gain the versatility and agility of living creatures. This trend is expected to continue in the global military robots market over the forecast.

Growing innovations in technologies is a growing trend in the market

Due to technological innovations, armed forces are focusing more on unmanned systems, and as a result, the number of unmanned systems that are deployed on the battlefield has increased in recent years. Moreover, many countries are considering these unmanned systems as the future of modern warfare and are striving on maintaining a fleet of these systems for their armed forces. This is for reducing the human casualties and for improving surveillance and intelligence capabilities. Thus, this trend is expected of fuel growth of the global military robots market over the forecast period.

Global Military Robots Market Restraints:

Various ethical concerns regarding use of robots to impede the market growth

Along with the adoption of robots for complicated warfare scenarios, many ethical concerns arose. Even if technologies such as AI and autonomous operations offer more informed military decision making capabilities and increased scale and speed of military actions, such technology could also be vulnerable and unpredictable to unique manipulation. This leads to skepticism over the reliability of robots in future combat operations. Thus, these factors are expected impede growth of the global military robots market over the forecast period.

Complexity of designs and threat of cyber-attacks to hinder the market pace

Military robots can cause concerns and challenges such as design complexity to cater stringent size, weight, and power (SWaP) constraints, and cyberattacks. The number of microwave components and onboard radio frequency in unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) designs for addressing performance issues and tackling technical challenges ranging from power consumption to counter-UAV tech is growing. However, these systems are vulnerable to cyberattacks and contain complex design requiring skilled personnel to operate. These factors in turn are expected to hamper growth of the global military robots market over the forecast period.

Figure 2: Global Military Robots Market Share (%), By Platform, 2022 

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Global Military Robots Market Segmentation:

The global military robots market report is segmented into Platform and Mode of Operation.

Based on Platform, the market is segmented into Land, Marine, and Airborne. Out of which, Land is expected to dominate the global market over the forecast period and this is attributed to the increasing number of countries testing the current feasibility of robotics in land-based armed forces. For instance, the Indian Army developed and inducted many robots, namely the Snake Robot, Wheeled Robot with Passive Suspension, Wall-Climbing Robot, Legged Robot, and Robot Sentry.

Marine segment is also expected to witness significant growth in the near future and this is owing to the increasing focus of armed forces on development of novel robot technologies to help the gain strategic and tactical superiority in a hostile engagement. For instance, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), is investing in robotic submarine system that can be utilized intelligently for various applications, including engaging in anti-submarine operations, detecting underwater mines, and protecting ships in harbors. Such initiatives are likely to support the market growth.

Based on Mode of Operation, the market is segmented into Human Operated and Autonomous. Out of which, Human Operated is expected to dominate the global market over the forecast period and this is attributed to the installation of remotely-piloted backup unit in robots due to limitations of embedded software programs that impact effective execution of mission profiles. For instance, in the French Army tested a quadruped robot, Spot in April 2021, which is a remote piloted and designed for navigating challenging terrains that are unsuitable for threaded or wheeled robots.

Autonomous segment is also expected to witness significant growth in the near future and this is owing to the growing testing for automated systems by various countries. Apart from UAVs, autonomous systems are tested for USVs, UGVs, and even combat aircraft. Thus, this is leading to growing adoption of automated systems, which in turn is expected to fuel growth of the segment.

Global Military Robots Market: Key Developments

In June 2021, Northrop Grumann Corporation, completed the first flight of Second RQ-4B Global Hawk of Japan. On the heels of this successful flight, the company recently completed another successful flights for the second unmanned air vehicle (UAV) for Japan.

In June 2021, Gerneral Dynamics Corporation received a US$ 72.8 Mn contract from the U.S. Navy for retrofitting five of the Block 0 Knifefish surface mine countermeasure unmanned underwater vehicle (SMCM UUV) systems, consisting ten SMCM vehicles of Knifefish.

In July 2020, Lockheed Martin Corporation, received a contract from Armasuisse for a fleet of Indago 3 small unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), with options for training, spares, and tech support along with additional systems for the Swiss Army.

In April 2020, Qinetiq Group Plc., received a contract from the U.K. Defense Science and Technology Laboratory (DSTL) for leading phase five Maritime Autonomous Platform Exploration (MAPLE) project.

Global Military Robots Market: Key Companies Insights

The global military robots market is highly competitive. This is attributed to continuous launch of new technologies due to ongoing R &D and efforts by value chain participants. Moreover, key players are adopting various business growth strategies in order to expand their presence on regional as well as global basis. Some of the key players in the global military robots market are Saab AB, Northrop Grumman Corporation, BAE Systems plc., Lockheed Martin Corporation, Thales Group, General Dynamics Corporation, IAI Group, AeroVironment Inc., Elbit Systems Ltd., FLIR Systems Inc., Cobham Ltd., and QinetiQ Group PLC.

*Definition:

A military robot is a type of robotic machine that is used by the military to perform specific missions. These machines are usually designed to carry out tasks that would be difficult for humans. The robot can do many different things, such as delivering ammunition, carrying injured soldiers, and even firing missiles.

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