Target drones market to reach $7.79 billion by 2030

The Business Research Company says the target drones market is set to grow from $5.51 billion in 2025 to $5.96 billion in 2026, with North America leading and Asia-Pacific expected to grow fastest. The report ties demand to rising defense spending, more realistic training, and next-generation weapons testing. Why it matters: - Target drones are becoming a bigger part of military training and weapons testing as defense forces look for more realistic simulation tools. - The market’s growth reflects broader defense modernization, higher spending, and demand for unmanned systems that can mimic aircraft and threats. - The report frames target drones as an enabling technology for anti-aircraft training, threat detection drills, and destruction testing of combat systems. What happened: - The Business Research Company published a new target drones industry report on June 12, 2026. - The report values the global target drones market at $5.51 billion in 2025 and projects $5.96 billion in 2026. - The company forecasts the market will reach $7.79 billion by 2030. - North America held the largest market share in 2025. - Asia-Pacific is expected to post the fastest growth through 2030. - The report covers Asia-Pacific, South East Asia, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, North America, South America, the Middle East and Africa. - The company published a free sample and the full report online: Download a free sample and View the full report . The details: - The market’s projected 2025-2026 growth rate is 8.1%. - The forecast period through 2030 carries a 6.9% CAGR. - Past growth was driven by realistic simulation training, early adoption of remotely controlled aerial targets, higher defense budgets for anti-aircraft evaluation, threat detection training programs, and basic unmanned platforms for repetitive target missions. - Future demand is expected to come from high-performance drones that can replicate threats, autonomous and AI-driven controls, military modernization, reusable low-cost platforms, and high-speed drones that mimic stealth aircraft. - The report highlights trends including realistic combat training drones, rapid aerial targets for weapon trials, marine and ground target drones for multi-domain training, jet-powered UAV platforms, and disposable low-cost target drone programs. - Target drones are unmanned aerial vehicles designed to assist in training anti-aircraft personnel. - The drones often resemble radio-controlled model airplanes and can simulate aircraft defenses and radar signatures. - The systems support military system development and evaluation, threat detection training, and destruction testing of manned combat aircraft and anti-aircraft weapons. - Defense budgets are a major market catalyst because they fund operations, personnel, training, healthcare, procurement, and maintenance of weapons and equipment. - The report cites the UK Parliament’s House of Commons Library, which projects UK defense spending in the 2025 Spending Review to rise from $83.3 billion (£62.2 billion) in 2025/26 to $98.2 billion (£73.5 billion) by 2028/29, equal to average real-terms annual growth of 3.8%. Between the lines: - The report points to a market shifting from basic training targets toward more advanced, reusable, and autonomous platforms. - Growth in Asia-Pacific suggests defense modernization is broadening beyond traditional U.S. and European demand centers. - The emphasis on stealth-mimicking and AI-enabled systems signals that target drones are being shaped by next-generation air defense needs, not just routine exercises. What’s next: - The market is expected to keep expanding through 2030 as militaries increase spending on training realism and weapons testing. - Product development is likely to focus on higher-speed drones, autonomy, multi-domain targets, and lower-cost disposable systems. - The Business Research Company says its 2026 reports now include market attractiveness scoring, TAM analysis, company scoring matrix graphics, Excel-based forecasting dashboards, market hotspots infographics, and updated trend analysis. The bottom line: - Target drones are moving from niche training tools to a more strategic slice of defense procurement, with demand rising for systems that better replicate real-world threats.