Welcome to the new “Invested in Drones” blog series, brought to you by Paladin Automation LLC.

Words like “drone”, “unmanned aircraft”, and “autonomous” conjure up scenes from science fiction movies, which makes this technology seem so unattainable to the average person. And this makes it hard for average people to invest in this burgeoning industry and share in the profit.

Drones, unmanned aircraft, and autonomous systems are all around us, whether or not we are aware of them.

• Autonomous space vehicles (satellites) collect imagery of your home and workplace, every single day.
• Vehicle-mounted cameras record imagery of your home and workplace several times each year.
• Autonomous cameras document your life as you pass through traffic intersections, walk through buildings, or just happen to be in the background of a photograph.
• Autonomous aircraft carry passengers every day, right over your head, with a safety pilot on board (for now).
• Autonomous vehicles share the road with you every day, with a safety driver in the seat (for now).
• Mobile devices in your home are recording imagery and audio even when you are not using them, because you clicked “Allow Access” after reading through the Terms and Conditions.

This sounds scary!

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 The truth is, the “Automation Age” is already upon us, and unmanned aircraft are the newest entrants to this era to be widely adopted. Consider these statistics.

• The global drone market is expected to hit between $45B and $65B by 2025.
  • By comparison, the automotive manufacturing market is expected to be $25B by the same year.
• Drone technology is expected to form a significant component of all market sectors in the coming decade.
• The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) spent nearly $4.5B in 2020 on unmanned and autonomous systems, and expects to increase this to $7B in 2021.

Where is all this money going? Can there possibly be that much investment into real-estate photography?

Not at all!

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Here are some of the emerging domestic use-cases for drone technology that will become increasingly commonplace between 2021 and 2030.

• Agriculture: Crop/Livestock Monitoring, Broad-Area Seeding, Pesticide Application
• Entertainment: Cinematography
• Real Estate: Property Survey, Marketing, Security
• Construction: Geographic Survey, Structural Integrity, Construction Progress Reporting
• Utilities: Pipeline Inspection, Powerline Inspection, Powerplant Exterior Inspection, Tower Inspection
• Retail: Aerial Product Delivery
• Transportation: Aerial Passenger Services, Traffic Monitoring, Highway Safety Survey
• Financial: Insurance Claim Inspection
• Healthcare: Human Tissue Transportation, Pharmaceutical Delivery
• Public Safety: Aerial Surveillance, Traffic-Accident Survey, Firefighting Response, Disaster Response

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As investors, we cannot afford to sit on the sidelines while the Drone industry simply overtakes our “safe” investments. Our goal is to find promising companies with good business models, and share in their success. That is why I am here to help you.

This blog series is intended for retail investors, investment firms, and financial advisors who are interested in harnessing the growth of the burgeoning Drone industry. I will use my technical knowledge, market research, financial analysis techniques, and automated investing research tools to give you the information you need to intelligently invest in the drone industry.