Government Spending on UGVs Will be Total $702m in 2011

Tuesday 30 August 2011, Amsterdam

Military ground robots are being called on to carry out an increasing proportion of tasks in place of human soldiers, from neutralising improvised explosive devices (IED) to keeping watch over international borders. The latest defence report - The Unmanned Ground Vehicles (UGV) Market 2011-2021: Military Robots for EOD & Counter-IED - offers readers a comprehensive analytical overview of the global UGVs marketplace and reveals how to exploit significant business opportunities. The study forecasts that worldwide government spending on UGVs will be total $702m in 2011.

The procurement of bomb-disposal robots for deployment with troops operating in Iraq and Afghanistan has been a key driver of sales growth in recent years. However, the scaling back of military operations is expected to reduce demand for urgent acquisitions of these sorts of explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) robots at least in the next few years. While EOD platforms currently dominate the global UGV market, robots intended for other roles ranging from border security to logistical support are beginning to gain ground.

The report examine the commercial prospects for companies supplying robotic platforms and associated subsystems, as well as entities seeking to secure research-and-development funding for the development of future UGV systems.

Analysis demonstrates that the global UGV market is a growing marketplace offering government contract opportunities that are likely to see a range of companies realising commercial success, from the major global defence and security systems integrators to specialist autonomy software developers.

How is funding for robotics research likely to be affected as government budgets continue to come under intense pressure, especially in Europe? Which national marketplaces offer the most significant sales growth opportunities over the next decade? How will the cancellation of the US Army's Multi-Mission Unmanned Ground Vehicle affect spending in the US market? Are armed robots likely to gain greater acceptance in coming years? This study seeks to answer these critical questions and many more through the in-depth analyses presented within The Unmanned Ground Vehicles (UGV) Market 2011-2021: Military Robots for EOD & Counter-IED.