Drone and counter-drone budgets have doubled between 2018 and 2019, with 1.4% of the US defense budget now going to the sector. A drone association developed a detailed breakdown of the expenditures, showing that the 2019 budget allocates $7 billion for unmanned aircraft, $1.5 billion for counter drone systems, $1.3 billion for unmanned maritime vehicles, and $0.7 billion for ground robotics. The $1.5 billion counter drone investment is decided among 90 different projects that will tackle a range of elements in counter-drone efforts including specific anti-drone missiles and electronic warfare software. Given the young nature of the industry and technology, the sector will likely continue to see significant investment increases, both as overall numbers and as its portion of total defense spending.
Source: The Pentagon’s latest budget is its largest counter-drone budget ever
