NEW YORK, Aug. 13, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Market News Updates News Commentary – Drones-as-a-Service is moving far beyond the idea of simply buying a drone and sending it into the sky. The real opportunity is turning drones into an on-demand business service — complete with pilots, autonomous flight, sensors, data collection, AI analytics, maintenance and mission support. And the numbers are getting hard to ignore. One recent market forecast puts the global Drone-as-a-Service market at $15.24 billion in 2025, rising to $17.27 billion in 2026 and reaching $37.02 billion by 2032. Another forecast is even more aggressive, projecting the market could reach $179.3 billion by 2030. That kind of growth tells investors something important: drones are rapidly shifting from expensive equipment into a recurring, service-based technology business. Companies on the move in the various Drone industries include ZenaTech, Inc. (NASDAQ: ZENA), Red Cat Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: RCAT), Unusual Machines (NYSE American: UMAC), Ondas Inc. (NASDAQ: ONDS) and Draganfly Inc. (NASDAQ: DPRO).
On the military side, the opportunity could be even bigger. Modern militaries are demanding more persistent surveillance, reconnaissance, border monitoring, logistics, communications support and autonomous aerial capabilities without putting additional personnel directly in harm’s way. NATO is now advancing drone and AI integration for its Eastern Flank, while the U.S. Army is actively trying to accelerate the testing and deployment of new drone and counter-drone technologies. The global military drone market alone is projected to increase from $15.8 billion in 2025 to $22.81 billion by 2030, and that does not capture the full opportunity across drone services, software, analytics, autonomous systems and supporting infrastructure. If Drones-as-a-Service becomes the preferred way for governments and defense contractors to access these capabilities, the recurring revenue opportunity could become enormous.
Commercial demand is where this story gets even more interesting. Companies don’t necessarily want to own fleets, hire specialized drone operators, maintain aircraft and build expensive data-processing systems — they want the job done. That’s why DaaS can be so powerful across construction, energy, utilities, agriculture, insurance, infrastructure inspection, surveying, security and logistics. One forecast puts the broader global commercial drone market at $41.9 billion in 2025 and $84.3 billion by 2030, while another estimate puts the drone-services market at nearly $30 billion in 2025 and more than $109 billion by 2030. Put it all together and the investment thesis becomes pretty straightforward: the drone industry isn’t just selling aircraft anymore — it’s building a massive services economy around autonomous machines, data and AI.
Why Investors Are Paying Attention to the Drone Technology Sector:
- $15.24B → $37.02B: One forecast sees global Drones-as-a-Service nearly 2.5X by 2032.
- $17.27B in 2026: Another forecast puts the DaaS market at more than $17 billion this year, showing how quickly the category is scaling.
- $179.3B by 2030: A more aggressive industry forecast points to a potential DaaS market approaching $180 billion.
- $22.81B military drone market by 2030: Defense demand is projected to keep climbing as militaries expand UAV capabilities.
- $109B+ drone-services opportunity by 2030: Broader drone services could become a $100-billion-plus global industry.
- Recurring-revenue potential: Instead of selling one drone once, DaaS providers can potentially generate ongoing revenue from flight operations, data, AI analytics, maintenance and subscriptions.
ZenaTech (NASDAQ:ZENA) Expands ZenaWorx Drone-based Construction Monitoring Software to Include Digital Terrain Modeling and Signs First AI Data Center Customer – The expanded LiDAR analytics offering for the earthworks phase delivered through Drone as a Service, is designed to generate recurring revenue across the life of a building project for commercial and public works customers – ZenaTech, Inc. ($ZENA) (FSE: 49Q) (NASDAQ: ZENA) (“ZenaTech”), a technology solution provider specializing in AI (Artificial Intelligence) drone, Drone as a Service (DaaS), enterprise SaaS, and Quantum Computing solutions, announces the expansion of ZenaWorx, its LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging)-based construction progress monitoring software, offered through its Drone as a Service division, to include digital terrain modeling (DTM) capabilities. The company also announced the signing of its first paying customer for a building project in the AI data center construction market. The new DTM functionality currently at the beta stage, extends ZenaWorx beyond structural 3D progress tracking to include precise measurement of cut-and-fill volumes, grading accuracy, and drainage, capabilities that are central to the earthworks phase of large-scale AI data center campuses and other public works projects that often span across months and years over the duration of a building project.
“The AI data center construction market represents one of the largest infrastructure buildouts in a generation, and speed plus data quality and precision translate directly into cost and schedule savings for builders and contractors,” said Shaun Passley, Ph.D., CEO of ZenaTech. “By expanding ZenaWorx into digital terrain modeling, we can offer AI data center developers, as well as public works customers such as landfill operators and municipalities managing drainage and grading projects, a faster and richer view of what is happening on site than traditional survey methods allow. Importantly, this is a recurring revenue opportunity for ZenaTech. Rather than a single site visit, we intend to partner with customers across the full life of a project, from initial earthworks through ongoing monitoring, building a durable, subscription-based relationship with every customer we sign.”
ZenaWorx combines the company’s Enterprise SaaS expertise incorporated into Drone as a Service jobs, focused on processing drone and LiDAR-captured data and transforming it into visual, analytics-driven construction progress insights. Originally introduced as a virtual design and construction (VDC) 3D progress monitoring tool, the software has now been expanded to include digital terrain modeling, allowing project teams to track cut-and-fill volumes, grading, and elevation changes in addition to structural and site-progress monitoring. The software is intended to support standardized reporting and performance tracking across construction projects, with broader applications expected to be explored over time.
Drone-based digital terrain modeling uses drone-mounted LiDAR or photogrammetric sensors to generate a highly accurate digital representation of the ground surface, capturing elevation, slope, and grading data that can be compared against engineering plans throughout a construction project. VDI is used across construction, mining, agriculture, and public infrastructure to measure cut-and-fill volumes, monitor drainage patterns, and verify compliance with site design. According to MarkWide Research, the global digital elevation model market is projected to grow from approximately $3.8 billion in 2026 to $10.04 billion by 2035, a compounded annual growth rate of approximately 11.4%, driven by survey needs in public works and government sectors.
ZenaTech’s Drone as a Service (DaaS) division provides on-demand turnkey drone piloting, data capture, and data processing services to commercial, government, and infrastructure customers, allowing them to access aerial data and automation without owning or operating their own drone fleets. The division is being built through an acquisition-led strategy that combines local low-tech service providers into a global network, creating a scalable platform for delivering recurring revenue aerial and data services such as surveying, inspections, power washing and construction progress monitoring. Continued… Read this full release and additional news for ZENA by visiting: https://www.zenatech.com/newsroom/
In other industry recent and current wildfire solutions news of note:
Red Cat Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: RCAT), a U.S.-based provider of advanced all-domain drone and robotic solutions for defense and national security, reported its financial results for the quarter ended June 30, 2026. “Our second quarter results reflect the continued execution of a strategy that is transforming Red Cat into a leading all-domain autonomy platform for defense and national security,” said Jeff Thompson, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Red Cat. “Revenue increased more than fivefold year-over-year as we scaled deliveries, expanded production capacity and continued to invest in technologies that enhance our competitive position across air, land and maritime operations. We also expanded gross margins 39% year-over-year and 27% sequentially, demonstrating the benefits of scale, production efficiencies and a more diversified product portfolio.
“During the quarter, we advanced to Gauntlet II of the Drone Dominance program, ramped Blue Ops into full-rate production, completed the acquisition of Quaze Technologies and continued expanding our autonomy, power and robotic capabilities through strategic investments. Together, these initiatives strengthen our ability to deliver integrated solutions that help customers deploy, sustain and scale autonomous operations in increasingly complex environments.”
Unusual Machines (NYSE American:UMAC), a leading provider of NDAA-compliant drone components, announced it filed its Form 10-Q with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for the second quarter ended June 30, 2026, and provided the following letter to its shareholders from CEO Allan Evans. Dear Shareholders, this shareholder letter follows the completion of our second quarter of 2026. We continue to execute our growth plan, and it was reflected in the quarter’s results.
In the second quarter, we generated $16.7 million in revenue, reflecting 687% year-over-year growth compared to the second quarter of 2025 and 106% quarter-over-quarter growth compared to the first quarter of 2026.
The financial details reveal a continued growth story in a very high-demand market. Our revenue growth was driven by the continued increase in headcount and capacity. In Q1 2026, we grew from 81 to 141 employees. This contributed to the rapid revenue growth in Q2. This capacity growth continues, with our total headcount growing to 240 employees at the end of the second quarter. While this type of growth can have a negative impact on gross margins, we have stabilized, and our gross margin increased to 34.7% for the quarter. As a note, we do not expect Q3 revenue to follow this historical quarterly pattern, as our additional labor and capacity are engaged in foundational work to enable us to dramatically expand in Q4 and into 2027.
Ondas Inc. (NASDAQ: ONDS), a leading provider of autonomous systems and next-generation defense and security technologies, announced that it has been awarded a multi-million-dollar strategic tender by the Israeli Ministry of Defense (“IMOD”) to develop and produce the next-generation tactical attack drone capabilities. The program represents a broader effort to advance the IMOD’s tactical drone capabilities. Under the program, Ondas will lead the development of a new generation of low-cost tactical attack drones designed to meet evolving operational requirements and enable scalable deployment across frontline combat units.
“This strategic award represents an important validation of the defense technology platform we are building at Ondas and our growing ability to serve as a prime contractor for complex, next-generation defense programs,” said Eric Brock, Chairman and CEO of Ondas. “The Israeli Ministry of Defense operates at the forefront of modern defense technology and has some of the world’s most demanding operational requirements. Their selection of Ondas reflects confidence in our internal engineering capabilities, operational experience, and ability to rapidly translate changing battlefield requirements into scalable, mission-ready systems.”
Draganfly Inc. (NASDAQ: DPRO), an award-winning, industry-leading drone solutions and systems developer, is pleased to announce its second quarter financial results.
Key Financial and Operational Highlights for Q2 2026: Revenue for the second quarter of 2026 was $2,664,237 which represents a 26.0% year over year increase. Product sales of $2,560,378 were up 34.6% over the same period last year.
Gross profit for Q2 2026 was $533,149, up 5.7% from $504,592 for the same period last year. Gross margin percentage for Q2 2026 was 20.0% compared to 23.9% in Q2 2025. Gross profit would have been $576,811 and gross margin would have been 21.7%, not including a one-time non-cash write down of inventory of $43,662. The decrease is due to the sales mix of the products sold. Read the full release here
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