Drones in 2025: where the money goes and where value still hides

Defense, Delivery, and Deep Value
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The global drone industry is flying high, pulling in around $73 billion annually, nearly double what it generated just five years ago. And that’s just the beginning. Analysts expect the market to more than double again by 2030, with strong growth across defense, logistics, and industrial services.

Defense remains the top driver. The war in Ukraine showed how low-cost drones can punch above their weight, and now the U.S. military is ramping up its own fleet through the Replicator program, which aims to deploy thousands of autonomous systems in the next two years. Companies like AeroVironment and Anduril are already cashing in, while demand for anti-drone systems is expected to triple by the end of the decade.

But the commercial side is gaining ground fast. Walmart has expanded drone delivery to 100 stores in five major U.S. cities, and industrial operators from wind farms to oil pipelines are swapping manual inspections for automated flights. Even heavy-lift cargo drones are starting to prove themselves. A Chinese prototype recently carried more than three tons during a test flight, hinting at big potential for mining and offshore operations.

On the tech front, drones are becoming more capable and more independent. AI helps with obstacle avoidance and targeting, while drone “nests” can handle battery swaps and redeployments with zero human input. This is ideal for around-the-clock operations. Hydrogen fuel cells are also making inroads, doubling flight time over traditional lithium batteries.
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Regulators Catch Up as Investors Eye Undervalued Players

Regulators are finally catching up. The FAA is laying the groundwork for full-scale beyond-visual-line-of-sight (BVLOS) rules, with a national framework expected by late 2025. Remote ID is now mandatory in the U.S., and Europe is already rolling out designated flight corridors for commercial drone traffic.

The money is following the momentum. Anduril just raised $2.5 billion in a Series G round, while Redwire snapped up Edge Autonomy for $925 million. Smaller players are gaining traction too. Ondas’s recent $14 million order pushed its backlog to nearly $29 million.

Still, it’s a split market. High-flyers like AeroVironment trade at premium valuations, but there’s value deeper down. Parrot, Europe’s top blue-label drone maker, trades at just 4x revenue. Ondas and Dragonfly also look cheap relative to their IP and order books, though they’ll need cash to scale.

Bottom line: The drone economy is real, and the next phase of growth is already underway. With defense budgets rising and commercial adoption accelerating, investors looking beyond the big names could find the biggest upside.

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Sources

https://droneii.com/product/drone-market-report
https://www.faa.gov/uas/programs_partnerships/beyond
https://www.faa.gov/newsroom/faa-ends-discretionary-enforcement-policy-drone-remote-identification
https://corporate.walmart.com/news/2025/06/05/walmart-takes-flight-with-drone-delivery-expansion-to-5-new-cities-redefining-fast-flexible-retail
https://techcrunch.com/2025/06/05/anduril-raises-2-5b-at-30-5b-valuation-led-by-founders-fund/
https://ir.redwirespace.com/news-events/press-releases/detail/153/redwire-announces-acquisition-of-edge-autonomy
https://ir.ondas.com/press-releases/detail/207/ondas-secures-14-3-million-order-from-a-leading-defense
https://www.parrot.com/en/corporate
https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/PARRO.PA/
https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/DPRO/
https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/anti-drone-market-177013645.html
https://dronelife.com/2021/11/04/doosans-hydrogen-drone-ds30w-next-gen-model-released/
https://interestingengineering.com/innovation/china-drone-3-ton-cargo-capacity
https://www.defense.gov/News/News-Stories/Article/3999474/dod-innovation-official-discusses-progress-on-replicator/

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