Global R&D spend on UAV systems to touch $80 billion

Companies are now looking at UAVs not just for commercial purposes, but also emergency services

Spend on development of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) systems, which is currently pegged at $7 billion globally, is expected to touch $80 billion in the next 10 years, according to Rajarajan Shanmugam, chief executive officer of Tata HAL Technologies Limited, a joint venture between Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) and Tata Technologies.

Speaking to mediapersons on the sidelines of a conference on engineering research and development (ER&D) organised by Hyderabad-based Cyient Limited in association with Nasscom here today, he said companies were now looking at UAVs not just for commercial purposes, but also emergency services.

"In the Indian context, the country is looking at manufacturing UAVs with foreign collaborations even as it is gearing up to start manufacturing on its own," Shanmugam said, adding the country had significant potential to become an MRO (maintenance, repair and overhaul) hub like Singapore and Dubai.

According to Sidhant, senior director at Zinnov LLC India, the future of aerospace engineering depends on how it is going to embrace newer technologies. "Shift towards a collaborative development environment has fuelled innovation in the aerospace sector. We need to realign our strategies to script a new chapter in India's aerospace R&D leadership story," he added.

Krishna Bodanapu, managing director and chief executive officer of Cyient Limited, said 40 per cent of the global R&D spend was happening in Asia, primarily driven by significant demand from geographies like India and China.

"SMAC (social, mobile, analytics and cloud) is happening in the right spirit, especially in the engineering space," he said.