UNMANNED GROUND VEHICLE MARKET ANALYSIS

Market Challenges And Opportunities

Global Unmanned Ground Vehicle Market Drivers:

Increasing modernization and expenditure on defense industry to propel the market growth

The defense budget is increasing of several countries around the world to modernize their defense systems through procurement of defense-related services and products. The growing defense spending of countries such as Russia, India, the U.S., China, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, and South Africa is playing a major role in the defense modernization programs intended to strengthen their defense forces. Moreover, the increasing defense budgets around the world is also for boosting the economy. These factors in turn are driving the demand for UGVs in defense and security applications, which in turn is likely to augment growth of the global unmanned ground vehicle market over the forecast period.

Rise in capital investment for robotics technologies to fuel the market growth

Requirement of large funding is a major barrier in development of robotics technology. For development of the next generation UGVs, major amount of investment is needed for advancing the technology significantly. In recent years, the proliferation of investment has increased substantially in the robotic market. Three major sources that are making these investments are government programs, venture capital investments, and large market players such as Endeavor robotics, ECA group, and Israel Aerospace Industries. This factor in turn is expected to boost growth of the global unmanned ground vehicle market during the forecast period.

Global Unmanned Ground Vehicle Market Opportunities:

Emergence of fourth industrial revolution or Industry 4.0 is expected to bring multiple opportunities in the global unmanned ground vehicle market during the forecast period. The major aspect of Industry 4.0 revolutions is use of Internet of Things (IoT), data analytics, and big data to power autonomous production methods. The manufacturers are putting efforts for developing smarter unmanned ground vehicle for the commercial and defense industry. The unmanned ground vehicles can be automated and coordinated to a larger extent than ever. These factors are likely to bring growth opportunities in the global unmanned ground vehicle market during the forecast period.

Emergence of new commercial applications is anticipated to create growth opportunities in the global unmanned ground vehicle market during the forecast period. Several commercial applications for unmanned ground vehicle are emerging, such as surveillance, mapping, natural disaster management, oil and gas pipeline, and product delivery. The use of unmanned ground vehicle is increasing in oil and gas sector, as the companies in this industry continue to face problems related to air pollution with different substance, which includes hazardous gases and additives. UGVs having sensors, cameras, and radars can provide surveillance and transfer video footage to control center. Thus, such commercial applications of these systems is likely to augment growth of the market.

Global Unmanned Ground Vehicle Market Restraints:

Need for developing reliable systems for critical missions to limit the market growth

Unmanned ground vehicle technology can be used for various potential applications. These systems are increasingly being used for military missions such as reconnaissance, intelligence gathering, combat support, mine clearance, and surveillance. These applications are highly critical for which UGVs have to have maximum reliability. UGV technology still poses issues related to its reliability due to which, adoption of this technology can be limited. This factor in turn is expected to hamper growth of the global unmanned ground vehicle market during the forecast period. However, with increasingly technological advancement and growing investment in UGV, market players are focused on developing highly reliable unmanned ground vehicles for such critical applications. This in turn is anticipated to aid in growth of the market.

Navigating through unmanned regions and complexity of UGVs to hinder the market pace

With evolving navigation and mapping techniques, unmanned ground vehicles have made a promising progress in recent years. However, these systems still need major research and development for future UGVs to work in unmapped environment. Moreover, installing and integrating robots takes time, as the entire process entails development and design of routes that lead to different designated points required to be travelled. Such complexities of these UGVs are also one of the factors expected to hamper growth of the global unmanned ground vehicle market during the forecast period.    

Global Unmanned Ground Vehicle Market Trends:

Growing military applications is a major trend

The investment in autonomous military systems has increased in recent years across several countries around the world. Despite the major focus on unmanned aerial vehicles, the investments for developing unmanned ground vehicles has increased significantly in recent years. In February 2021, the Military of Russia revealed that it has developed a functional prototype of its new Udar Unmanned Combat Ground Vehicle. This UGV can operate on various terrains. Thus, this trend is likely to continue in the global unmanned ground vehicle market during the forecast period.

Growing demand for UGVs in civilian applications is a recent trend

Civilian operations include rescue and home usage. Home usage involves harvesting crop and cleaning floors. Unmanned ground vehicles are utilized in rescue operations such as in a disaster. Moreover, the demand for civilian applications has increase with the growing need of perimeter and border security. This in turn is driving the demand for UGVs in civilian applications, which is expected to drive growth of the market.