UK drones in numbers
From military procurement and airport incursions to policing, healthcare and infrastructure inspection, drones are becoming embedded across UK defence, industry and public life.
£5bn
Britain’s biggest drone investment
8,000+
The MOD says it has taken delivery of more than 8,000 uncrewed systems since July 2024. It works with more than 60 companies supplying drones for defence, including 17 UK companies.
545,000 sq ft
Swindon’s DroneTEX facility, home to the Defence
Uncrewed Systems Centre,
covers 545,000 sq ft, more than 10 football pitches, making it the largest indoor drone testing facility in Europe.
266 There were 266 reported
UAV incidents near UK defence sites in 2025, more than double the 126 recorded in 2024. The rise has driven moves to strengthen military counter-drone powers.
189 Official figures recorded
189 Uncrewed Aircraft Systems across the UK Armed Forces at 1 April 2026, nine more than a year earlier. The figure covers Certified and S2 systems, so excludes many smaller drones.
26,584 UK police pilots deployed
drones 26,584 times in the six months from October 2024 to
March 2025. Those deployments helped locate 649 missing people, 721 suspects and 163 vehicles.
The Defence Investment Plan commits more than £5 billion over four years to drones and autonomous systems across the Armed Forces, including strike, surveillance, maritime and ground systems.
10,990
Almost 11,000 organisations held an active CAA drone Operator ID in Q1 2026/27, alongside more than 321,000 individual operators. One Operator ID can cover multiple aircraft.
330,000+
The CAA recorded more than 330,000 active Flyer IDs in Q1 2026/27, illustrating the
scale of drone and model-aircraft flying in UK. Flyer IDs are required for most aircraft weighing 100g or more.
83
There were 83 unauthorised drone incidents reported in controlled airspace around UK airports between January and October 2025. This compares to 70 during the whole of 2024 and 43 in 2023.
Figures use the latest published data available as of August 2026. Definitions vary: official military UAS statistics exclude many small systems, while CAA Flyer and Operator IDs also include some model-aircraft users.
Autumn 2026 | Advance 7
Illustration credit: Qeeraw/
stock.adobe.com
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