By Dan Parsons | December 21, 2020 Estimated reading time 5 minutes, 59 seconds. The U.S. military’s appetite for small vertical-lift drones could be worth more than $1 billion if both the Army and Marine Corps follow through on plans to equip every 10 troops with a “squadcopter,” according to a new report on drone economics from aerospace investment firm Levitate Capital. Recognizing the tactical utility and relative affordability of small consumer drones, both services have for years advocated purchasing vertical-takeoff-and-landing unmanned aerial systems (UAS) for short-range ...