Industry Insights

No other country has a larger share of the global drone market than China. According to the Association for Uncrewed Vehicle Systems International, companies based in China and subsidized by the Chinese government control 90% of the consumer drone market, 70% or more of the enterprise market, and 92% of the state and local first responder market. Chinese company DJI owns a large majority of that market share.

With China owning such a large share of the global drone market, the U.S. has taken steps to strengthen its own drone market as unmanned systems have become critical for enhancing military capabilities and ensuring national security.

One measure the U.S. DoW took in 2020 was ordering its Defense Innovation Unit to create the Blue UAS program. The program’s purpose is to create and maintain a list of trusted, secure, and NDAA-compliant small unmanned aerial systems (UAS) to the U.S. government.

Nearly six years since the Blue UAS program was introduced, the list has grown to over 39 certified systems and 165 components. This report will explore everything Blue UAS-related, including why the list matters, what systems are getting approved, and much more.

To hear from DoW leaders who work in the UAS space, including with the Blue UAS list, join IDGA at this year’s Next Generation UAS Summit. During the two-day summit, June 23-24, we will dive into all things UAS, including CCA programs.

The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) annually secures funding, specifies expenditures, and creates policy for the U.S. military. The Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 NDAA passed this December guarantees over $900 billion in national defense funding, $8 billion more than the Trump administration’s budget request.

This year’s was the first NDAA signed by President Trump since his administration and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth have overhauled the Department of War. The FY 2026 NDAA was highlighted by significant investments in shipbuilding and missile defense, policy focused on countering adversaries such as China and Russia, and the modernization of weapons systems like the F-35 and M1E3 Abrams tank.

Another core pillar of the Trump administration’s efforts to modernize the DoW was increased investments in drone, or UAS, technology. In this year’s NDAA drones are mentioned ten times and UAS are mentioned 33.

This report will walk through what the defense funding bill lays out for UAS investments in 2026.

IDGA’s Next Gen UAS Summit provides an excellent opportunity for the defense industry and U.S. military to gather under one roof to discuss ongoing drone dominance efforts. The two-day summit, taking place June 23-24 in Arlington, Virginia, will bring thought leaders together to discuss emerging UAS investment priorities, one-way attack systems, vertical lift modernization, AI-enabled autonomy, ISR capabilities, next-generation training pipelines, and much more.

Last summer, President Trump signed the executive order “Unleashing American Drone Dominance” that sent a clear message to the DoW and defense industry, the U.S. needs to strengthen its drone capabilities. Since the executive order was signed in June, the DoW has launched its Drone Dominance Initiative, aimed at manufacturing and deploying hundreds of thousands low-cost, domestically produced drones.

American drone makers are lining up to be a part of the $1.1 billion drone program, and IDGA is here to help these companies learn more about how they can get involved. This June 23-24 in Arlington, Virginia, IDGA will host the Next Generation UAS Summit. The conference will convene senior leaders from the U.S. military, defense innovation community, and industrial base to drive the next phase of drone dominance. During the two-day conference, attendees will gain direct visibility into emerging UAS investment priorities, one-way attack systems, vertical lift modernization, AI-enabled autonomy, ISR capabilities, and next- generation drone training pipelines.

Before the conference, IDGA sat down with CAPT Dennis Monagle, USN (ret), the former Program Manager PMA 266 Multi-Mission Tactical UAS for Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR). Captain Monagle's service includes tours with HM-14, a pivotal role aboard USS Theodore Roosevelt, and leadership of HM-15 in Norfolk. Onshore, he’s been a MH-53E flight instructor, completed assignments with NAVAIR, led modernization efforts at DISA, and played a significant role in Unmanned Mission Control Station development. Captain Monagle serves as an advisory board member for the Next Generation UAS Summit, where he will lead multiple discussion panels. In the following interview, he discussed the future of drone dominance, what DoW needs from the industrial base, and more.

IDGA’s Next Generation UAS Summit will debut this June 23-24 in the Washington D.C. area. The conference explores how the U.S. military will achieve drone dominance through a sovereign industrial base, low-cost systems, AI-enabled autonomy, reclassified drone munitions, and a rapidly trained operational force.

During the two-day summit, attendees from across the U.S. military and industry will join under one roof to discuss the intricacies of achieving drone dominance. The following infographic shares five key themes at this year’s conference.

In December 2023, migrant encounters at the U.S.-Mexico border reached a record high, according to Pew Research Center. By August 2024, those encounters had dropped 77%, and eighteen months later, migrant encounters dropped to their lowest level in more than 50 years.

The recent decline in migrant encounters is partially attributed to policy changes on both sides of the border. Besides policy changes, another factor in improving the mitigation of illegal border crossings are the technologies and personnel Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) have committed to in recent years.

One such technology is unmanned aerial systems, or drones. CBP has begun expanding the role of drones in its operations, which has offered significant benefits in terms of time and cost savings, and officer safety. This report will analyze not only how CBP is leveraging drones on the southern border, but inversely the risks drones present on the southern border when used maliciously.

To learn more about drone use on the southern border and other U.S. military and DHS efforts to use drones to secure the homeland, IDGA’s Next Generation UAS Summit will include a range of discussions from the military’s drone dominance initiative to R&D directives the military is taking to advance UAS capabilities and much more.

Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA), the Air Force’s autonomous wingman program, had an eventful year in 2025. The program down selected in increment 1, and finalists had began to publicly announce prototype testing. Meanwhile, both the Navy and Marines have joined the Air Force in establishing CCA programs, and 2026 is expected to be an exciting year for the respective service branches’ CCA programs.

In late 2024, IDGA published an article highlighting progress made on CCA that year. Now, nearly a year later, we are here to take on that same endeavor. This article will highlight everything you might have missed over the past year of CCA, as well as dive into progress on the Navy’s own CCA program.

IDGA’s Next Generation UAS Summit will bring together the drone community, including members of the U.S. Military working on armed force’s CCA programs. The two-day summit, taking place June 23-24 in Arlington, VA., will include a range of discussions from the military’s drone dominance initiative, to R&D directives the military is taking to advance UAS capabilities, and much more.