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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Navigation, Control and Mission Planning Advances for Safe, Efficient and Autonomous Drones: 2nd Edition submission deadline 29 Jan 2026 | Viewed by 207 | Submission Open
Keywords: drone; path following; navigation; control; machine learning; autonomy; UAV; spacecraft
The Role of UAVs in Modern Agriculture: Precision Spraying and Crop Health Analysis submission deadline 31 Jan 2026 | Viewed by 157 | 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)
UAVs and UGVs Robotics for Emergency Response in a Changing Climate
edited by , Santos Miguel Orozco Soto and Christian Wankmüller
submission deadline 31 Jan 2026 | Viewed by 149 | Submission Open
Keywords: unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs); unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs); robotics for hazardous environments; disaster robotics; human-robot teaming; search and rescue (SAR); emergency response automation; autonomous navigation; real-time situational awareness
(This special issue belongs to the Section Drones in Ecology)
Drones in Pest Management and Plant Disease Detecting: State of the Art, Achievements and Perspectives
edited by Zoran Stamenković, Aleksandar Ivezić and
submission deadline 12 Feb 2026 | 1 articles | Viewed by 838 | 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)
Design and Flight Control of Low-Speed Near-Space Unmanned Systems
edited by Ming Zhu, Xixiang Yang and Tian Chen
submission deadline 13 Feb 2026 | 2 articles | Viewed by 2007 | 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)
Innovative Applications of UAVs in Search and Rescue: Improving Safety and Effectiveness
edited by Kristian Amadori and Christopher Jouannet
submission deadline 20 Feb 2026 | 6 articles | Viewed by 8601 | Submission Open
Keywords: search and rescue (SAR); unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs); drone technology; system of systems (SoS); sensor integration; real-time data processing; multi-UAV Coordination; autonomy and AI; situational awareness; flight safety and regulation
Recent Advances in Healthcare Applications of Drones submission deadline 27 Feb 2026 | Viewed by 113 | Submission Open
Keywords: drones in healthcare; unmanned medical logistics; emergency medical services; telemedicine
Advances in Deep Learning for Drones and Its Applications: 2nd Edition
edited by , and Ho Seok Ahn
submission deadline 28 Feb 2026 | 7 articles | Viewed by 13940 | Submission Open
Keywords: UAVs; aerial robots; drones; remote sensing; deep learning; deep neural networks; computer vision; robotic perception
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles for Enhanced Emergency Response
edited by , Wonjae Shin, and Xiangming Li
submission deadline 28 Feb 2026 | 9 articles | Viewed by 13543 | 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)
Advances in Cooperative Perception Application for Unmanned System in Modern Transportation
edited by , , Sheng Bao and Hailong Shi
submission deadline 28 Feb 2026 | 4 articles | Viewed by 5373 | Submission Open
Keywords: development of new sensors and innovative data fusion algorithms for UAVs and autonomous vehicles; applications of UAVs and autonomous vehicles in modern transportation surveillance; remote sensing and data analysis for UAVs and SDVs in modern transportation; localization and high-definition map for UAVs and SDVs in transportation; deep-reinforcement learning for multi-unmanned traffic systems; application of artificial intelligence for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and self-driving vehicles (SDVs); modeling; simulation; and dynamic analysis of the collaboration system for UAVs and SDVs; UAV and SDV decision making in a complex urban traffic environments; parameter identification and state estimation of UAVs and SDVs; methods for predicting UAV and autonomous vehicle trajectories and their applications in intelligent transportation; design of new sensors and novel estimation and data fusion algorithms for UAVs and SDVs; dynamic vision sensor and its application in intelligent transportation; Spiking Neural Network and neuromorphic computing in the context of UAVs and autonomous vehicles
(This special issue belongs to the Section Innovative Urban Mobility)
Drones in Hydrological Research and Management submission deadline 28 Feb 2026 | 3 articles | Viewed by 2581 | Submission Open
Keywords: hydrological research; disaster management; image analysis; machine learning; sustainable development; water quality
(This special issue belongs to the Section Drones in Ecology)
Low-Latency Communication for Real-Time UAV Applications
edited by Angelos Stavrou, Tolga O. Atalay and Alireza Famili
submission deadline 28 Feb 2026 | Viewed by 180 | 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)
Unmanned Aerial Systems for Geophysical Mapping and Monitoring submission deadline 1 Mar 2026 | Viewed by 162 | Submission Open
Keywords: earth science; geophysics; magnetics; electromagnetic; gravity; GPR; hyperspectral; radiometrics; data processing; miniaturized sensors; sensor integration; UAS payload optimization; subsurface mapping
Advances in AI Large Models for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles
edited by , and
submission deadline 10 Mar 2026 | Viewed by 633 | Submission Open
Keywords: AI large models; UAV network; navigation; sensor fusion; UAV swarm; cooperative sensing
(This special issue belongs to the Section Drone Communications)
Advances in Autonomy of Underwater Vehicles (AUVs)
edited by , Shuangshuang Fan and
submission deadline 16 Mar 2026 | 6 articles | Viewed by 9577 | Submission Open
Keywords: autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs); underwater gliders; guidance; navigation; and control; informative planning; AI and machine learning; online decision-making; adaptive sampling; sensor fusion; underwater communication; multi-vehicle coordination; mission-oriented autonomy
Next-Gen Drone Safety: Intelligent Systems, LLM Analytics and Operational Risk submission deadline 18 Mar 2026 | Viewed by 230 | Submission Open
Keywords: artificial intelligence in aviation; aviation accident investigation; aviation safety; intelligent systems; large language models (LLMs); UAS accidents; unmanned aircraft systems
AI-Assisted Control Strategies and Their Applications to the Stabilization, Guidance and Navigation of Drones
edited by
submission deadline 20 Mar 2026 | 12 articles | Viewed by 26994 | Submission Open
Keywords: drone technology; optimal design; drone dynamics; drone navigation; machine learning; design optimization; dynamic modeling; navigation systems; autonomous drones; object detection; collision avoidance; tracking systems
(This special issue belongs to the Section Drone Design and Development)
Recent Development in Drones Icing submission deadline 20 Mar 2026 | 2 articles | Viewed by 7904 | Submission Open
Keywords: unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs); aircraft icing; aviation safety; ice detection; de-icing technologies weather resilience
(This special issue belongs to the Section Drone Design and Development)
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) Applications in Critical Industrial Sectors
edited by , Gordon Dobie and
submission deadline 26 Mar 2026 | 2 articles | Viewed by 3962 | 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
Swarm Intelligence-Inspired Planning and Control for Drones
edited by , Haitao Nie, Jinliang Shao, , , and
submission deadline 31 Mar 2026 | 3 articles | Viewed by 4665 | Submission Open
Keywords: drone task and path planning; cooperative control; collision avoidance; swarm intelligence-based optimization; communication and coordination
(This special issue belongs to the Section Drone Design and Development)
Urban Air Mobility Solutions: UAVs for Smarter Cities submission deadline 31 Mar 2026 | 3 articles | Viewed by 3940 | Submission Open
Keywords: UAM; UAV; smart cities; infrastructure; safety; funding; public policy; urban planning; emergency response; workforce
(This special issue belongs to the Section Innovative Urban Mobility)
Intelligent Control and Optimization of Electric Vertical Take-Off and Landing Unmanned Aerial Vehicles
edited by Zongyang Lv, Qing Zhao and Hao Wei
submission deadline 31 Mar 2026 | 1 articles | Viewed by 496 | Submission Open
Keywords: eVTOL; UAV; optimal control; intelligent control; nonlinear control; fault-tolerant control
(This special issue belongs to the Section Drone Design and Development)
Advances in UAV Guidance, Navigation, and Control Through Acoustic Technologies
edited by and Dilmurat M. Azimov
submission deadline 1 Apr 2026 | Viewed by 36 | Submission Open
Keywords: UAV acoustics; drone noise; acoustic sensing; sound propagation; noise mitigation; acoustic navigation passive localization; beamforming; environmental noise impact; multimodal state estimation
Mission Planning, Perception and Control for Drones in Wide-Area Operations
edited by , Xiangyu Shao, Yuehua Liu, Liming Xin and Jiatao Ding
submission deadline 17 Apr 2026 | 4 articles | Viewed by 11864 | 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)
Advances in Cartography, Mission Planning, Path Search, and Path Following for Drones: 2nd Edition
edited by , and Delia Elena Spridon
submission deadline 20 Apr 2026 | Viewed by 55 | Submission Open
Keywords: drone; UAV; cartography; path following; mission planning; machine learning; sensor fusion; data acquisition
Drone-Based Wildlife Protection, Monitoring, and Conservation Management:2nd Edition submission deadline 26 Apr 2026 | 4 articles | Viewed by 15470 | Submission Open
Keywords: habitat monitoring; LiDAR; population estimation; thermal; wildlife conservation; wildlife management; wildlife monitoring; wildlife species detection
(This special issue belongs to the Section Drones in Ecology)
Artificial Intelligence-Driven Drones Systems for Marine Engineering Applications
edited by , Jia Ren, and Yani Cui
submission deadline 30 Apr 2026 | Viewed by 166 | Submission Open
Keywords: drone applications; deep learning and reinforcement learning; marine engineering; vision-based perception; multimodal perception; environmental monitoring; autonomous navigation; air– sea coordination
(This special issue belongs to the Section Artificial Intelligence in Drones (AID))
Advanced Optimization Strategies for UAV Mission Planning and Operation
edited by Emanuele Luigi de Angelis, Fabrizio Giulietti and Giulio Avanzini
submission deadline 31 May 2026 | Viewed by 62 | 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))
Advancing Space-Air-Ground-Sea Integrated Networks in Drones: Techniques, Applications, and Future Directions
edited by , and Li Li
submission deadline 30 Jun 2026 | Viewed by 72 | Submission Open
Keywords: drone-enabled SAGSINs; 6G networks; integrated space-air-ground-sea communications; cooperative transmission; cross-domain resource scheduling; mobility management; edge computing in drone networks; security and privacy in drone-enabled networks
(This special issue belongs to the Section Drone Communications)
Drones and the Internet of Things: Enabling Connected Airspace
edited by , Bernabe Matteo and Enrico Testi
submission deadline 31 Jul 2026 | Viewed by 12 | Submission Open
Keywords: UAV communications; internet of things; aerial networks; AI-native UAV systems; edge Computing for UAVs; network optimization for UAVs; non terrestrial networks; new architecture and services for UAV networks; secure UAV communications; massive multiple access for UAV networks; modulation and coding for UAV networks
(This special issue belongs to the Section Drone Communications)
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