Israel Tops Global Rankings as Leading Supplier of Suicide Drones

Israel has taken the top spot as the world's largest supplier of loitering munitions, also known as suicide drones, over the past 28 years, according to a report by the Center for New American Security (CNAS). The report, which analyzed trends from 1995 to 2023, revealed that Israel dominated the suicide drone market, while Turkey emerged as the leading supplier of armed drones.

Armed drones operate weapons designed to attack a target, whereas suicide drones explode on impact. Turkey entered the market in 2018 and has since made more deliveries of armed drones than any other country, with 47 deliveries. China followed with 34 deliveries, trailed by the US with 12, Iran with 8, and Israel with 6.

The major purchasers of armed drones over the period reviewed in the report were the UK with 9 deliveries, Nigeria and the UAE with 7 each, Algeria with 6, and Pakistan and Saudi Arabia with 5 each.

The Russia-Ukraine war, which began in 2022, significantly boosted demand for armed drones. Kiev procured extensive numbers of Bayraktar TB2 armed drones, with 98 deliveries in 2022, the highest number of deliveries in a single year. The number of deliveries decreased to 56 in 2023, but remains higher than the 27 deliveries recorded in 2012.

Other global conflicts, such as the Libyan civil war and Azerbaijan's conflict with Armenia in Nagorno Karabakh, have also contributed to the growing demand for armed drones. As geopolitical tensions continue to rise, the demand for these technologies is likely to persist.