2025 Trends in the Civilian Counter-UAS Industry

Drones have become more accessible, sophisticated, and capable, leading to a rise in unintended and malicious uses. As we approach 2025, the need for robust, adaptable counter-UAS systems has never been greater. Civilian sectors—such as airports, energy facilities, and corporate campuses—must prepare for this new wave of threats, ensuring that their operations remain secure and resilient against evolving risks.

@Mark Legh-Smith MBE, Founder and CEO of OSL and a recognized global expert in the civilian C-UAS field, leveraged his expertise to identify seven key trends to watch for in 2025. These insights are crucial for navigating the rapidly changing landscape of drone technology and its expected threats.

7 C-UAS Trends to Watch in 2025

In 2025, several key trends will shape civilian drone defense, as organisations search for better ways to protect their critical assets from emerging threats.

Trend #1: Smarter Sensor Clusters

Smart sensor clusters work by combining various sensors—such as radars, image analytics cameras, and RF/ cyber sensors—into a unified system that performs stronger than any individual sensor alone. With these clusters working in tandem, sites benefit from better coverage and knowledge of threats, even when communication networks experience disruptions. It reduces the dependency on unbreakable communication links because the individual clusters work well on their own.

As an example, One of our leading OEMs has integrated a leading cyber sensor-and-defeat system with a lightweight, small-form-factor radar and a cyber sensor. This fusion offers a much more reliable outcome that can detect a greater range of threats.

Smart sensor clusters are trending as a scalable solution for temporary deployments at festivals and large events, for securing airports and city centers, and also for Critical National Infrastructure (CNI) sites. Their compact design makes them easy to deploy from vehicles or rooftops, making them an attractive and cost-effective solution for high-net-worth properties, police patrols, or small infrastructure sites.

Trend #2: Intelligent Open Fusion

Intelligent fusion integrates data from multiple sensors—radars, cameras, and cyber systems—to improve tracking, classification, and threat assessment, significantly reducing false positives and increasing system efficiency.

By leveraging AI, these systems can correlate data from various feeds to identify how many unique objects are present and which sensors are tracking them. This intelligent correlation ensures that data from different sensors is accurately merged, providing a clearer picture of the threat landscape. For example, it helps an operator recognise and correlate that five feeds are actually all referring to the same object, not five different ones. Another example is identifying a person performing a specific action and classifying it as neutral or a threat, and specifying the type of threat, based on parameters such as its duration, people’s positions and postures, or objects involved. Those correlations and classifications have traditionally been done using mathematical algorithms, but in 2025, updating neural nets and AI algorithms will be increasingly used -- as the ability to layer radar, image analytics, and other detection methods offers a more reliable solution, especially in complex environments where traditional methods often fail.

Leading sites like Heathrow and Gatwick have set the standard, showcasing how intelligent fusion can ensure high levels of reliability and performance, even in demanding civilian settings. As threats become more autonomous and complex, layering in AI-driven radar, RF and camera systems will be essential for both short- and long-range threat detection.

Trend #3: Integration with Unmanned Traffic Management (UTM)

UTM systems, designed to manage authorised drone traffic, combined with counter-UAS technology, can effectively distinguish between approved drone activity and potential threats.

This integration ensures that authorised drones are monitored for compliance, while any unauthorised or non-compliant UAVs are quickly flagged as risks. In high-stakes environments, such as airports or critical infrastructure, this capability is crucial for maintaining airspace safety. Additionally, UTM integration can even allow drone responses. For example, you can use your UTM to send an automated UAV as an interceptor in some environments, like over the sea.

As drone traffic becomes heavier in 2025, the ability to efficiently manage both authorised and unauthorised UAV activity will become a non-negotiable requirement. Future systems will increasingly combine UTM and counter-UAS capabilities, offering a single package for comprehensive airspace oversight.

Trend #4: Increased Fixed-Wing Threats

Fixed-wing UAVs are becoming a more serious concern for civilian infrastructure. Unlike typical commercial drones, these fixed-wing platforms can travel much longer distances, often using GPS guidance to carry out missions autonomously. This makes them a practical tool for surveillance or even weaponised attacks, as is occurring in high-risk regions such as the Middle East or Africa, where critical sites like refineries or energy plants may be targeted by terrorist groups.

Given their higher speed and longer range, detecting and neutralising these fixed-wing threats requires more advanced systems than those used for traditional drones. Long-range radar and high-performance cameras are crucial for tracking these UAVs, especially since they may operate beyond the range of RF signals, making standard detection methods less effective.

In 2025, civilian operators should consider investing in advanced long-range detection systems to address the growing threat of fixed-wing UAVs.

Trend #5: Greater Threat Autonomy

Autonomous drones can operate without relying on RF or GPS signals, making them harder to detect and neutralise. These drones can execute pre-programmed missions without needing real-time human input, creating a new level of complexity for civilian protection systems.

Countering autonomous threats requires advanced tracking algorithms, with AI playing a vital role in predicting movement and identifying patterns with a near-human touch, enabling systems to act swiftly and accurately. Layered detection (short and long-range) is critical for effective management and to eliminate many false positives. Systems need to combine AI-powered cameras with radar for comprehensive coverage, especially when drones go RF silent or rely solely on satellite signals.

In 2025, civilian protection systems must invest in AI-enabled tracking and radar systems for ongoing protection from these increasingly sophisticated drones.

Trend #6:  Emerging Counter-UAS Regulations

Airports, energy plants, and other high-risk sectors will soon be required to comply with stringent regulatory standards for C-UAS to ensure safe airspace management and protection. Some of these regulations are being pushed by the public and customer expectations, especially in high-profile industries like airports, where both passengers and airlines expect robust protections.

Regulatory frameworks are beginning to emerge, with national organisations and bodies like the British Standards Institute working on guidelines to define what constitutes an effective C-UAS system and set the bar for compliance.

As regulations will likely continue to evolve, future-proofing is necessary. Sites should adopt flexible and open systems that allow easier upgrades to meet changing standards. Systems that can adapt will be more cost-effective in the long term than closed, rigid solutions.

Trend #7: Remote Third-Party C-UAS Monitoring

Remote third-party monitoring is becoming an attractive, scalable, and cost-effective solution for C-UAS activities. By offering 24/7 surveillance and rapid response capabilities, it eliminates the need for in-house staff to manage C-UAS systems. This model works especially well when combined with collaborations with local law enforcement, as they can effectively follow through on threat response.

Another benefit of relying on third-party monitoring is the real-time insights it offers. Third-party operators have a clear view of what is working well and what could be improved. They can incorporate operational feedback into their workflows, and implement the lessons learned from one site across other sites. They do not need to rely solely on customer feedback, which can be difficult to access consistently and may not be used cross-functionally.

This trend is still emerging in 2025 but has already seen success, especially in high-profile environments like major airports where operators gain direct feedback for continuous system improvement.

Preparing Civilian Infrastructure for 2025

From smarter sensor clusters to the integration of UTM systems, AI-driven threat detection to scalable third-party monitoring solutions, the 2025 trends highlighted underscore the need for a more robust defense against the complexities of modern drone activity.

Civilian sites can now adopt intelligent, future-proofed C-UAS systems to stay ahead of drone threats. As drone technology advances, so must the defense systems designed to defend against them.