The following list of drone manufacturers, American and foreign, comes from this article: 12 Companies that Will Conquer the Drone Market in 2014 and 2015, by Christopher Harress, International Business Times, January 2014. (NOTE: BEYOND just listing these drone manufacturers, this article reports company revenues, products and prospects.)
Also by Christopher Harress: An Affordable Drone That Takes Pictures And Folds Into Your Pocket Is Coming In 2014. International Business Times, January 2014.
Researching these drone manufacturers will provide insight into this industry.
In alphabedtical order:
AeroVironment, Inc. (U.S.)
(The) Boeing Company (U.S.)
Denel Dynamics (South Africa)
DJI (China) (Its "Phantom" drone is highly rated and a favorite of filmmakers.)
General Atomics (U.S.)
General Dynamics Corporation (U.S.)
Israel Aerospace Industries (Israel)
(The) Lockheed Martin Corporation (U.S.)
Northrop Grumman (U.S.)
Prox Dynamics AS (Norway)
SAIC (U.S.)
Textron Inc. (U.S.)
Ken Distler
Reference Librarian III
kdistler@nyit.edu / 516-686-1154/7657