40 unmanned systems
inside
January/February 2016
AIR MARKET WATCH
by Peter Gutierrez
EUROPE'S
UAS INDUSTRY
SNAPSHOT
E
urope is in the midst of a UAS revolu-
tion, with business on the upswing and
the European Union moving to ratio-
nalize its rules and regulations for drone opera-
tions continent-wide.
Time will tell whether the new measures
help or harm but for now Europe's commer-
cial drone industry is taking root. According
to ABI Research the combined revenue for the
sector—that is the revenue from unmanned
platforms; system and platform support and
services; application services and enabling
technologies—reached approximately $88
million in 2015. That's not an Earth-shatter-
ing amount, but in European terms, nothing
to sneeze at either.
The Biggest and the Smallest are the Biggest
The advances in the industry follow familiar
patterns, ABI's Research Director for Robotics,
Dan Kara said.
The "larger countries with larger economies
dominate the European UAS market," Kara said.
These are the same nations that have the most
skilled work forces and the best research and
funding resources, he told Inside Unmanned
Systems. "These include France and Germany—
but the UK, Spain and Italy also have notable
drone initiatives."
The cage around Flyability's
Gimball drone reduces the
risk for people working in
close proximity to it.
Photo courtesy of Flyability