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Volume 10
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Review

A Comprehensive Review of UAV Formation Control from a Mission-Driven Perspective

by
Chong Yu
1,2,
Jiaqi Liu
1,2,
Peng Xie
2,3 and
Wenjun Xie
2,3,*
1
Graduate School, Air Force Engineering University, Xi’an 710051, China
2
National Key Laboratory of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Technology, Air Force Engineering University, Xi’an 710051, China
3
Equipment Management and Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Engineering School, Air Force Engineering University, Xi’an 710051, China
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Drones 2026, 10(4), 278; https://doi.org/10.3390/drones10040278
Submission received: 25 February 2026 / Revised: 31 March 2026 / Accepted: 8 April 2026 / Published: 13 April 2026
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Flight Control and Collision Avoidance of UAVs: 2nd Edition)
Versions Notes

Abstract

To systematically review the research progress on unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) formation control, this paper proposes a mission-driven full-lifecycle analysis architecture. The architecture summarizes the core scenarios and key technologies involved in the three main stages: formation assembly, formation maintenance, and formation reconfiguration. Moreover, a comprehensive evaluation framework is established that covers pre-event, in-event, and post-event phases from the perspectives of resilience, robustness, reliability, and vulnerability. The interrelationships among these four dimensions are explained in terms of time, function, and design. Finally, this paper identifies current research gaps and practical challenges in terms of algorithms, evaluation methodologies, and real-world deployment verification, and outlines future development directions.
Keywords: unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV); formation control; formation assembly; formation maintenance; formation reconfiguration; formation performance evaluation unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV); formation control; formation assembly; formation maintenance; formation reconfiguration; formation performance evaluation

Share and Cite

MDPI and ACS Style

Yu, C.; Liu, J.; Xie, P.; Xie, W. A Comprehensive Review of UAV Formation Control from a Mission-Driven Perspective. Drones 2026, 10, 278. https://doi.org/10.3390/drones10040278

AMA Style

Yu C, Liu J, Xie P, Xie W. A Comprehensive Review of UAV Formation Control from a Mission-Driven Perspective. Drones. 2026; 10(4):278. https://doi.org/10.3390/drones10040278

Chicago/Turabian Style

Yu, Chong, Jiaqi Liu, Peng Xie, and Wenjun Xie. 2026. "A Comprehensive Review of UAV Formation Control from a Mission-Driven Perspective" Drones 10, no. 4: 278. https://doi.org/10.3390/drones10040278

APA Style

Yu, C., Liu, J., Xie, P., & Xie, W. (2026). A Comprehensive Review of UAV Formation Control from a Mission-Driven Perspective. Drones, 10(4), 278. https://doi.org/10.3390/drones10040278

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