Special Issues

Drones publishes Special Issues to create collections of papers on specific topics, with the aim of building a community of authors and readers to discuss the latest research and develop new ideas and research directions. Special Issues are led by Guest Editors, who are experts on the topic and all Special Issue submissions follow MDPI's standard editorial process. The journal’s Editor-in-Chief and/or designated Editorial Board Member will oversee Guest Editor appointments and Special Issue proposals, checking their content for relevance and ensuring the suitability of the material for the journal. The papers published in a Special Issue will be collected and displayed on a dedicated page of the journal’s website. Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies and Guest Editor responsibilities can be found here. For any inquiries related to a Special Issue, please contact the Editorial Office.

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Advances in AI Large Models for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles
edited by , and
submission deadline 20 Oct 2026 | 6 articles | Viewed by 10473 | Submission Open
Keywords: AI large models; UAV network; navigation; sensor fusion; UAV swarm; cooperative sensing
(This special issue belongs to the Section Drone Communications)
Next-Gen Drone Safety: Intelligent Systems, LLM Analytics and Operational Risk submission deadline 20 Oct 2026 | 2 articles | Viewed by 5419 | Submission Open
Keywords: artificial intelligence in aviation; aviation accident investigation; aviation safety; intelligent systems; large language models (LLMs); UAS accidents; unmanned aircraft systems
Advances in UAV Guidance, Navigation, and Control Through Acoustic Technologies
edited by and Dilmurat M. Azimov
submission deadline 22 Oct 2026 | 2 articles | Viewed by 2009 | Submission Open
Keywords: UAV acoustics; drone noise; acoustic sensing; sound propagation; noise mitigation; acoustic navigation passive localization; beamforming; environmental noise impact; multimodal state estimation
Advances in Deep Learning for Drones and Its Applications: 3rd Edition
edited by , , Ho Seok Ahn and Chanoh Park
submission deadline 26 Oct 2026 | 1 articles | Viewed by 481 | Submission Open
Keywords: UAVs; aerial robots; drones; remote sensing; deep learning; deep neural networks; computer vision; robotic perception
Drones in Pest Management and Plant Disease Detecting: State of the Art, Achievements and Perspectives
edited by Zoran Stamenković, Aleksandar Ivezić and
submission deadline 28 Oct 2026 | 3 articles | Viewed by 5007 | Submission Open
Keywords: unmanned aerial vehicle; pest management; plant disease detection; precision agriculture; remote sensing; multispectral imaging; hyperspectral data; machine learning; crop monitoring; smart spraying
(This special issue belongs to the Section Drones in Agriculture and Forestry)
Electric-Powered and Hybrid-Powered Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Technology and Applications of Low-Altitude Aviation: 2nd Edition
edited by Wenbiao Gan, Zhou Zhou, and
submission deadline 28 Oct 2026 | Viewed by 170 | Submission Open
Keywords: electric-powered aircraft; distributed power; UAV; flying cars; optimization design; aerodynamics; artificial intelligence; green aviation; urban air mobility and delivery; low-altitude economy
(This special issue belongs to the Section Innovative Urban Mobility)
Artificial Intelligence-Driven Drones Systems for Marine Engineering Applications
edited by , Jia Ren, and Yani Cui
submission deadline 31 Oct 2026 | 4 articles | Viewed by 4913 | Submission Open
Keywords: drone applications; deep learning and reinforcement learning; marine engineering; vision-based perception; multimodal perception; environmental monitoring; autonomous navigation; air– sea coordination
Autonomy Challenges in Unmanned Aviation
edited by and Anthony Tzes
submission deadline 31 Oct 2026 | 2 articles | Viewed by 3147 | Submission Open
Keywords: unmanned aviation; autonomy; learning-based navigation and control; UAS design for robustness and resilience; NextGen UAS
Low-Latency Communication for Real-Time UAV Applications
edited by Angelos Stavrou, Tolga O. Atalay and Alireza Famili
submission deadline 31 Oct 2026 | 3 articles | Viewed by 2692 | Submission Open
Keywords: low-latency communication; real-time UAV applications; 5G/6G networks; ultra-reliable low-latency communication (URLLC); edge computing for drones; UAV swarm communication; next-generation wireless systems; mobile ad hoc networks (MANETs) for UAVs; autonomous drone networks; latency-aware protocols
(This special issue belongs to the Section Drone Communications)
Design and Flight Control of Low-Speed Near-Space Unmanned Systems: 2nd Edition
edited by Ming Zhu, Xixiang Yang and Tian Chen
submission deadline 31 Oct 2026 | Viewed by 232 | Submission Open
Keywords: near-space; high-altitude platform station; solar-powered unmanned systems; overall design of aircraft; flight control; solar energy cycle system; ultra-light construction; near-space low-speed unmanned aircraft.
(This special issue belongs to the Section Drone Design and Development)
Use of Drones in Protected Areas, Indigenous Lands, and National Parks
edited by Hamish A. Campbell, and Naomi Millner
submission deadline 31 Oct 2026 | Viewed by 210 | Submission Open
Keywords: protected areas; Indigenous co-design; wildlife monitoring; habitat mapping; fire management; disaster response; wetland monitoring; adaptive management
(This special issue belongs to the Section Drones in Ecology)
UAVs and GeoAI for Natural Hazard Monitoring and Modeling submission deadline 16 Nov 2026 | Viewed by 331 | Submission Open
Keywords: UAVs; geoAI; natural hazards; remote sensing; hazard monitoring and mapping; geospatial data analytics
(This special issue belongs to the Section Drones in Ecology)
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles for Enhanced Emergency Response: 2nd Edition
edited by , , Wonjae Shin, and Xiangming Li
submission deadline 20 Nov 2026 | Viewed by 96 | Submission Open
Keywords: UAVs; emergency response; situational awareness; autonomous navigation; edge computing; multi-UAV cooperation; space– air– ground-integrated network; secure information exchange
(This special issue belongs to the Section Drone Communications)
Advancing UAV-Based Remote Sensing: Innovations, Techniques and Applications
edited by , Yinxia Cao, Haoyang Yang and Dongyu Li
submission deadline 28 Nov 2026 | 1 articles | Viewed by 2456 | Submission Open |
Keywords: UAV remote sensing; drone path planning; image enhancement; multispectral and hyperspectral imaging; thermal remote sensing; precision mapping; data fusion techniques; environmental monitoring; disaster response applications; machine learning in UAV data analysis
Advanced Cross-Domain Unmanned Platform Command and Security Technology: 2nd Edition
edited by , Jialong Zhang, and Yuan Li
submission deadline 30 Nov 2026 | 2 articles | Viewed by 1206 | Submission Open
Keywords: intelligent control  ; cross-domain  ; command  ; cooperation technologies  ; security  ; heterogeneous UAV swarms  ; unmanned platforms
Advanced Optimization Strategies for UAV Mission Planning and Operation
edited by , and Giulio Avanzini
submission deadline 1 Dec 2026 | 8 articles | Viewed by 4917 | Submission Open
Keywords: unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs); autonomous aerial systems; mission planning and scheduling; trajectory optimization; payload allocation and optimization; multi-UAV coordination; optimization algorithms; heuristic and metaheuristic methods; energy-efficient UAV operations; autonomous decision-making
(This special issue belongs to the Section Artificial Intelligence in Drones (AID))
IoT-Enabled UAV Networks for Secure Communication
edited by Bing Chen, , , Yutao Jiao and Zhiyi Tian
submission deadline 15 Dec 2026 | 5 articles | Viewed by 10725 | Submission Open
Keywords: Internet of Things (IoT); unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV); flying ad hoc networks (FANET); drones; ground control station (GCS)
(This special issue belongs to the Section Drone Communications)
Drones and AI for Crop Information Sensing and Decision-Making Models
edited by , Wenwen Kong and
submission deadline 15 Dec 2026 | 1 articles | Viewed by 1072 | Submission Open
Keywords: smart agriculture; remote sensing; UAV; drones; AI models; deep learning; plant phenotype; crop water content; crop nutrient; crop disease; crop pest; crop yield; weed detection; 3D digital technology; multi-spectral imaging sensors; crop smart management system; crop decision-making models
(This special issue belongs to the Section Drones in Agriculture and Forestry)
Collaborative UAV SLAM: Methods and Applications submission deadline 15 Dec 2026 | Viewed by 288 | Submission Open
Keywords: collaborative UAV SLAM; distributed SLAM; decentralised SLAM; communication-constrained SLAM; lifelong aerial SLAM; edge computing; swarm robotics; multi-modal sensor fusion; SLAM benchmarking; field robotics applications
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) Applications in Critical Industrial Sectors (2nd Edition)
edited by , Gordon Dobie and
submission deadline 28 Dec 2026 | Viewed by 82 | Submission Open
Keywords: advanced unmanned aerial vehicles; unmanned aerial vehicles in industrial sectors; autonomous UAV systems; UAV-based critical infrastructure monitoring; hazardous environment inspection using UAVs; UAV technology advancements; infrastructure maintenance using UAVs; UAV environmental impact assessment
The Role of UAVs in Modern Agriculture: Precision Spraying and Crop Health Analysis submission deadline 31 Dec 2026 | 5 articles | Viewed by 6082 | Submission Open
Keywords: drone crop monitoring; field mapping; vegetation indexes; imaging and sensor technologies; artificial intelligence; aerial spraying; remote agriculture; digital simulations
(This special issue belongs to the Section Drones in Agriculture and Forestry)
Non-Line-of-Sight (NLoS) Communication Strategies for UAV Networks
edited by Khadija Slimani, Adarsh Kumar and
submission deadline 31 Dec 2026 | Viewed by 568 | Submission Open
Keywords: Non-Line-of-Sight (NLoS) communication; AI-enhanced UAV networks; secure and resilient communication; multi-UAV collaboration; blockchain-based trust management; autonomous decision-making; channel prediction and routing; cybersecurity in UAV Networks; digital twin modeling; next-generation wireless systems
(This special issue belongs to the Section Drone Communications)
Mission Planning, Perception and Control for Drones in Wide-Area Operations: 2nd Edition
edited by , Xiangyu Shao, Yuehua Liu, Liming Xin and Jiatao Ding
submission deadline 31 Dec 2026 | Viewed by 23 | Submission Open
Keywords: motion control and path planning for wide-area operating drones; mission planning for wide-area operating drones; task decomposition and allocation for wide-area operating drones; simultaneous localization and mapping in a complex environment; vision recognition and detection; intelligent perception techniques; model-based predictive control for intelligent systems; robust control; sliding mode control; and adaptive control; deep learning and reinforcement learning; architecture for learning and control integration; advanced decision and control methods for unmanned systems; intelligent swarm and formation
(This special issue belongs to the Section Drone Design and Development)
Aerodynamics and Aeroacoustics of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles: Flow Physics, Noise Prediction, and Design Optimization
edited by Marcel Ilie, Gabriela Liliana Stroe and Augustin Semenescu
submission deadline 31 Dec 2026 | Viewed by 16 | Submission Open
Keywords: UAV aerodynamics; aeroacoustics; computational fluid dynamics (CFD); computational aeroacoustics (CAA); rotor wake interaction; low-noise UAV design
(This special issue belongs to the Section Drone Design and Development)
Skybound Surveillance: Enhancing Road Network Efficiency with Drone Inspections submission deadline 30 Jan 2027 | 2 articles | Viewed by 3530 | Submission Open
Keywords: unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs); road infrastructure and bridge inspection; transportation and traffic engineering; human factors and operator performance; aviation systems and UAV safety; sustainable and renewable-energy UAV applications
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