The Modern Battlespace Is Welcoming Robots

Robots can be significantly smaller than humans or human-driven vehicles, meaning they’re harder to detect. They also can’t be captured, taken hostage, wounded, traumatized, or even killed, making them especially suitable for highly dangerous tasks.

Robots are used for, or under development for, tasks like mine clearing, scouting, search and rescue, and so on. Over the coming years, as more money is spent on military robots, there will be more new models that will be able to handle additional specialized tasks.

The world has been realizing the potential of robots in military and defense contexts in recent years, which explains the following chart:

(Source: statista.com)

The current conflicts around the globe, including the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, play a role in making defense departments allocate more and more money towards military robots. After all, these conflicts show that there’s a substantial need for increased capabilities.

Current forecasts see the market for military robots growing at a strong pace beyond 2025 as well, with revenues in 2030 expected to be around $39 billion, according to Statista. This would be more than three times the revenue generated in 2020, for an annual growth rate of around 13%. This is more than the growth rate over the 2010 to 2020 time span, as well as the 2000 to 2010 time span. Simply put, the market for military robots is on an accelerating growth track.

How To Invest in The Military Robots MegaTrend

This is great for investors that are exposed to this MegaTrend. While not all companies that develop and manufacture military robots are publicly traded, as there are many start-ups that are active in this space, investors can opt for some publicly traded companies if they want exposure to this MegaTrend.

Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) is a major military and defense company that primarily builds military aircrafts, but also has a military robots business. Its offerings include unmanned aerial systems, for example, such as the Stalker UAS system.

General Dynamics (NYSE: GD) is a large defense company as well, with a diverse portfolio of products. Among many others, General Dynamics also offers a military robot called Tracked Robot 10-Ton, or TRX, a land system that can be equipped with all kinds of weapon systems and that serves a wide range of purposes in the field:

Of course, investors also can invest in military robots indirectly. Especially when robots have to do tasks semi-autonomously or autonomously, they require massive computational power. AI players such as chip giant Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) or Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (NYSE: TSM) could be among the beneficiaries of increased automation on the battlefield as well.