The US exported the most drones over the past few years — but the second-biggest exporter might surprise you

The US exported 7,592 military drones, narrowly ahead of Iran's 6,800 Iran overtook America in 2025 after US deliveries dropped to 402 Russia received 99% of Iran's exported drones, mostly Shahed-136 attack systems The United States exported the most military drones between 2022 and 2025, narrowly b

<![CDATA[ <article> <ul><li><strong>The US exported 7,592 military drones, narrowly ahead of Iran's 6,800</strong></li><li><strong>Iran overtook America in 2025 after US deliveries dropped to 402</strong></li><li><strong>Russia received 99% of Iran's exported drones, mostly Shahed-136 attack systems</strong></li></ul><p>The United States exported the most military drones between 2022 and 2025, narrowly beating Iran, which ranked second worldwide during the period.</p><p>Data from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) records 7,592 American exports against 6,800 Iranian deliveries, while Germany ranked a distant third with 1,000 exports.</p><p>Together, the US and Iran accounted for 86% of global exports, with Ukraine receiving 95% of American shipments while Russia got 99% of Iran’s deliveries, most of which were Shahed-136 one-way attack <a href="https://www.techradar.com/cameras/drones/best-drone">drones</a>.</p><h2 id="iran-overtakes-the-us-as-exports-shift">Iran overtakes the US as exports shift</h2><p>Although Washington maintained the lead across most of the period, annual figures changed significantly in 2025, when Iranian deliveries exceeded American shipments.</p><p>Iran exported 2,002 drones that year, compared with 402 delivered by the United States.</p><p>The decline of American shipments is due to the suspension of military assistance to Ukraine, which had received most US exports during the preceding years.</p><p>Subsequent American deliveries were directed mainly toward Taiwan, marking a change in the destinations receiving these systems.</p><p>The figures cover military drones weighing at least 150 kilograms, equivalent to approximately 331 pounds, including loitering munitions and one-way attack aircraft.</p><p>Small first-person-view drones and commercial models were excluded, meaning the figures do not capture every type of unmanned aircraft supplied internationally.</p><p>One-way attack platforms accounted for 97% of recorded exports, indicating that expendable systems dominated the shipments measured by SIPRI during the period.</p><p>Their prevalence also explains why the figures should not be interpreted as a comprehensive count of military drones worldwide.</p><h2 id="poland-and-others-trail-the-leading-exporters">Poland and others trail the leading exporters</h2><p>In addition to the top exporters, within the same period, Poland exported 690 drones to take fourth place while<strong> </strong>Turkey occupied fifth place with 381 exports, despite supplying customers across a considerably wider international network.</p><p>Ankara delivered drones to 28 countries, including Pakistan, Kuwait and Romania, which belong to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).</p><p>Its Bayraktar TB2 accounted for 58% of worldwide exports of reusable drones, distinguishing Turkey’s position within that category.</p><p>The Czech Republic, Sweden and the next seven countries in the rankings collectively exported just 89 drones, considerably fewer than Germany or Poland.</p><p>Their combined deliveries also fell far below Turkey’s total, despite the latter ranking behind both European countries in overall export numbers.</p><p>The figures therefore distinguish the country’s leading total military drone shipments from those supplying particular categories of aircraft.</p><p>However, SIPRI’s weight threshold and exclusion of smaller commercial and first-person-view models limit comparisons with estimates covering the entire unmanned aircraft market.</p><p>Via <a href="https://dronefront.com/us-iran-military-drone-exports/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">The Drone Front</a></p><figure class="van-image-figure inline-layout" data-bordeaux-image-check ><div class='image-full-width-wrapper'><div class='image-widthsetter' style="max-width:676px;"><p class="vanilla-image-block" style="padding-top:31.51%;"><img id="diM9tpwF2Lz85R8q85CT78" name="tr-g_news" alt="Google logo on a black background next to text reading 'Click to follow TechRadar'" src="https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/diM9tpwF2Lz85R8q85CT78-1920-80.jpg" mos="" align="middle" fullscreen="" width="676" height="213" attribution="" endorsement="" class="inline"></p></div></div></figure> </article> ]]>