Current trend of using the most cutting-edge technology in aviation leads to a significant development of drones. These drones are used privately and in military, but they can prove to be of great help to rescue services, whether as a fast first aid, mountain rescue or to firefighters. In this sector, they are mostly used as monitoring devices by using attached cameras, but they can be used as well to move things over small distances and occasionally even to help with the initial assessment of the people’s status who are in danger. Drones in military mostly serve as heavy-weight carriers of weapons, including rockets. They use the most modern technology which makes them incredibly precise with a superb navigation system and cameras.
First unmanned aerial vehicles are not such a new concept as one might think. First attempts to create drones could be dated to the time of the first World War in Europe, when professor Archibald Montgomery Lowa created the first scouting aerial vehicle without a pilot in order to take photos, named Aerial Target. The biggest development of drones happened around 80s and 90s of the 20th century, thanks to its possibilities in military sector. They were initially used only for reconnaissance, but eventually they were equipped with weapons as well. During this era, drone MQ-Predator was created, which was equipped with air-to-surface missiles. Beginning in summer of 2013, the US army started testing drones Northrop Grumman X-47B for automatic start and landing on a military aircraft carrier USS George H. W. Bush under a code name CVN-77.
All drones, whether they are operated by military or civilians fall under strict rules based on the legislation of the concerned country, linked to the rules for participants of the air traffic. For example, drones on the soil of the United States are regulated by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). Right now, FAA is concerned with a proposal from the biggest e-commerce company Amazon.com Inc. to use drones to deliver the good to their customers. Amazon currently employs drones in the delivery chain, but only for short distances in a manner, where the person operating the drone sees the drone with his eyes. Amazon plans to employ drones to fully automatize delivery in the future. Based on the predictions of global experts, 80% of the drones for the private sector will find their usage in agriculture, for automatic watering, fertilizing, significant part of the harvest up to fully automatized transport of the products to the warehouses.
Based on these factors, financial world, including the biggest global investment banks, predicts a significant potential in drone manufacturers, including both military and civilian ones. From the investment standpoint, analysts present these stock titles, which should be growing in a medium-term and mainly long-term horizon:
AeroVironment Inc (NASDAQ-AVAV)
Company AeroVironment is focused on the production and delivery of aircraft system for UAV and missiles for government agencies. Company is also related to the delivery of electric vehicles. They have two main market segments: unmanned aerial systems and efficient energetical systems. Price of their shares on 13th of December 2018 was 73.42 USD per share, with a 33,76% increase in the last year.
Sony Corp (NYSE-SNE)
Sony Corporation is a traditional global manufacturer of electronic devices under its brand Sony. This company also owns a segment which focuses on the development and manufacture of drones for private use, namely to connect it with the supply chain of its own products. Price of the stock on 13th of December 2018 was set at value of 52.20 USD per share with an annual increase of the price of 16.91%.
