A drone swarm is a cluster of interconnected drones that operate as one unit. It often consists of multiple machines, outfitted with sensors and programmed with flocking algorithms, controlled by a sole command center. The number of drones in a swarm can range from just a few to thousands, performing a variety of coordinated tasks, including cyber fireworks, military operations, precision farming and emergency response.
Drone Swarm Definition
A drone swarm is a cluster of unmanned aerial vehicles that work in tandem as a unified system. Remotely controlled, each drone communicates with one another to synchronize movements and collectively make decisions in order to achieve a common objective.
Swarms are not a new concept. And like many robotics innovations, they’re based on naturally occurring phenomena. In this case, think of schools of fish or bird flocks. Or a beehive. Swarming is also a long-established military tactic, seen with horse arches dating back to the 4th century to cyberattacks of the 21st century. Today, that same strategy is being applied to drones.
What Is a Drone Swarm?
A drone swarm is a group of unmanned aerial vehicles that work together in a coordinated, autonomous way. These drones communicate constantly, using artificial intelligence, sensors and cameras to make collective decisions with minimal human input.
Unlike separately controlled drones, a swarm functions as an interlinked, unified system. It shares data in real time to adapt, move in sync and handle complex tasks with precision. Not every drone in the swarm does the same thing — while some gather intelligence and track targets, others carry out electronic warfare or direct engagement.
The size of a swarm can vary widely, from just a handful of drones to thousands. To date, the largest drone swarm on record consisted of 10,197 drones, which performed a light show over Shenzhen Bay Park in part of a National Day tribute. And as technology advances — particularly in developing more efficient real-time data sharing methods and lightweight batteries with extended life — drone swarms could theoretically become limitless in size.
However the ability of drone swarms to scale and operate with high levels of autonomy has raised concerns among international organizations, including the United Nations, who have discussed the potential for UAV fleets to be used as weapons of mass destruction.
While their main use is for military operations, drone swarms are also being developed to put on mesmerizing light shows, collect research, enhance conservation efforts and carry out search-and-rescue missions.
Examples of Drone Swarm Projects
From defense applications to precision farming, these drone swarm projects mark how far the technology has come while setting the current standard of today.
UK’s Blue Bear Drone Swarm
Blue Bear’s 20-drone swarm can identify enemy targets and replenish supplies to troops and medics in combat zones. | Video: Royal Marines
The United Kingdom’s Blue Bear Systems Research has been leading the charge in drone swarm technology through its “Many Drones Make Light Work” project, backed by a £2.5 million investment from the Defence and Security Accelerator in 2019. The team successfully tested a swarm of 20 drones flying beyond visual line of sight, making it the country’s largest military-focused swarm demonstration to date. In a public trial at RAF Spadeadam, the drones worked together in real-time to identify targets, resupply ammunition and medical supplies and carry out reconnaissance missions on land and at sea.
US Department of Defense’s “Perdix” System
The 103-drone unit demonstrated collective decision making, formation flying and self-healing properties. | Video: U.S. Navy
Perdix is a swarm of tiny autonomous drones built for low-altitude surveillance and reconnaissance, capable of launching from the air, sea or ground. Instead of following pre-set commands, these drones communicate in real-time in order to adapt and make collective decisions without a designated pack leader. Originally developed by MIT Lincoln Laboratory in 2013, the Perdix swarm was tested by the U.S. military in a demonstration featuring 103 drones, where they exhibited formation flying, collective decision-making and “self-healing” tactics when a drone would get lost or fail.
Zhejiang University’s Decentralized Drone Swarm
Researchers at China’s Zhejiang University developed a 10-unit drone swarm capable of navigating dense forests autonomously without centralized control. Using altitude sensors, depth cameras and an anti-collision algorithm, the palm-sized drones detect obstacles, process data in real time and share information with each other as they coordinate movement. The idea is to create a more efficient approach to conservation and disaster-relief work, like search-and-rescue missions or emergency response, via drone swarm technology.
Hylio’s Agricultural Drone Swarm
The FAA awarded its first waiver to allow heavy-lift agricultural drones to operate in a swarm to the company Hylio in October 2024. Designed for precision farming, these agro-drones can spray crops with centimeter-level accuracy, covering up to 70 acres per hour while carrying a 13-gallon payload. As a swarm, as many as three drones can be linked up at a time, which are controlled from a single ground station.
Drone Light Show At China’s National Day Celebration
During China’s National Day celebration in 2024, a light show made up of 10,197 drones flew over Shenzhen Bay Park, marking the largest drone display to date. Organized by Damoda, the aerial show, titled “City in the Sky, Full of Possibilities,” flashed animations of city landmarks, ships, rainbow-colored birds and martial arts, setting two Guinness World Records: The most drones ever flown at the same time from a single computer and — breaking its own record set one week before — the largest aerial image ever created with drones.
The EONIOS Project
A consortium of French-Cypriot companies launched the EONIOS environmental monitoring system, which operates as a swarm of micro-autonomous underwater vehicles for the purpose of restoring artificial reefs off the coast of Cyprus. These AUVs, equipped with sensors and cameras, collect data and provide continuous surveillance, rebuilding fish stocks and fending off disturbances — like illegal fishing — in the area.
How Do Drone Swarms Work?
Drone swarms operate through a combination of autonomous decision-making, real-time communication and collaborative algorithms. Each drone in the swarm is equipped with GPS, sensors — such as cameras, thermal sensors or lidar — and communication systems, allowing them to maintain their position relative to one another while staying connected within a group.
The swarm uses algorithms to determine optimal flight paths based on real-time data and environmental factors, like terrain or obstacles. As they share information, drones within the swarm can autonomously adjust their movements and adapt to changes in the mission or immediate surroundings without explicitly being told to do so.
How drones coordinate within a swarm and react to signals received from both its external surroundings and inter-swarm relations determine the effectiveness of a drone swarm. In other words: It’s less about replicating the same command across a fleet of flying robots and more about conducting multiple parts as a whole. Together, each individual unit forms part of a collective, operating from the same “hive mind” software platform.
What is most efficient for one type of swarm may not be for the next. Below are several different analytical models that are unique in their approach to problem solve. Some of the most common algorithms are:
- Ant Colony Optimization: This is a time-saving optimization method, where drones mimic the foraging trails of ants by scattering in all directions, laying down “digital pheromones” in the form of data, then reinforce the shortest, most efficient routes.
- Particle Swarm Optimization: Inspired by how birds flock or fish school, drones iteratively adjust their movements based on their own past experiences and what they learn from nearby drones.
- Honeybee Mating Optimization: This method guides drone swarms in the same way queen bees select a mate, testing different combinations — each more optimized than the last — until finding the one with the best long-term potential.
- Firefly Algorithm: Fireflies swarms are dictated by the brightest bugs. In a drone swarm, the attractiveness of a drone is based on its solution quality — such as proximity to a target or coverage efficiency — causing drones to move toward brighter peers as a mission objective evolves and the environment chances.
- Shuffled Frog Leaping Algorithm: Inspired by frog hunting patterns, drones in a swarm split into sub-groups to explore a local area in rounds. After each iteration, the group as a whole comes together, shares information, then randomly re-disperses in the direction of the most efficient sub-group.
What Are Drone Swarms Used For?
Here are some ways drone swarms are being used today, as well as a few unrealized applications to come in the near future.
Military Operations
Drones are the future of modern warfare. They’re increasingly being utilized in military operations for tasks such as reconnaissance, surveillance and tactical strikes. And while swarming technology is actively being worked out alongside advancements in AI, sensors and autonomous systems, global forces are already deploying drone swarms in battle for the purpose of real-time intelligence gathering, launching saturated attacks on enemy targets and providing continuous surveillance over vast areas.
Entertainment
Backlit by dark skies, drone swarms introduce a modern, eco-friendly alternative to firework displays, choreographing mesmerizing light shows for public entertainment. Notable showcases include Sky Elements’ holiday-themed spectacle as well as SkyMagic’s Pokémon drone exhibition in Indonesia — the country’s largest-ever drone show — each featuring more than one thousand drones.
Search and Rescue
The coordinated use of drones enhances search-and-rescue operations by rapidly covering large areas while navigating dynamic environments. Researchers at the Indian Institute of Science, for example, have developed a decentralized, AI-guided swarm robotics system that uses sensors to autonomously locate a forest fire, assess its size and spread, then coordinate to deploy the necessary drones to extinguish it while the rest carry on searching for other fire clusters to put out. When coupled with GPS systems and thermal imaging cameras, this type of technology can be used to quickly locate missing individuals and significantly improve emergency response times.
Agriculture
Farmers use insights collected by drone swarms to improve the care of their crops. These UAV flocks can monitor crops in real-time, flagging plant health issues like disease, pests or soil nutrient gaps with advanced sensors and cameras. They can also handle tasks like spraying fertilizers or planting seeds across large fields, making the process more efficient and eco-friendly by targeting only where it’s needed.
Environmental Monitoring
Drone swarms can help to track things like air and water quality and deforestation, as well as the density and immigration patterns of wildlife populations. Thermal cameras and multispectral imaging sensors allow synced-up UAVs to cover vast areas and collect real-time data, giving researchers the intel they need to spot environmental threats and make better-informed conservation decisions. Drones are increasingly being used in places like the Amazon, for example, to fend off illegal loggers and replant forestry.
Advantages of Drone Swarms
Here are some of the top features propelling drone swarms tech to the top.
- Speed: Drone swarms can cover large areas much faster than solo drones, and are capable of dividing up responsibilities across the horde.
- Reliability: If one drone in a swarm fails, the rest of the swarm can “self heal,” continuing on without pause.
- Adaptability: Drones in a swarm communicate and adjust in real-time to avoid obstacles, whether it’s trees during forest mapping or cars in traffic monitoring. Additionally, the size of a drone swarm can be easily scaled from a handful of UAVs to several thousand.
- Safety: Drones are often used to perform dangerous tasks so humans don’t have to. Swarms further reduce any need for human presence in hazardous scenarios, like firefighting or bomb disposal.
- Affordability: Across a variety of sectors, drone swarms are loads cheaper than the technology they’re disrupting. In combat, short-range missiles, like the IRIS-Ts currently being supplied to Ukraine, can cost upwards of $450,000 — which is significantly more expensive than a like-for-like drone swarm alternative, such as the Shahed-136, priced at about $20,000. This goes for farming equipment as well, with agricultural drones starting at around $30,000 compared to the average price range for tractors, which spans $300,000 to $700,000.
Disadvantages of Drone Swarms
The following challenges are what’s holding drone swarm development back.
- Complexity: As drone swarms get larger and more complex, collaboration becomes trickier. With so many moving parts, the risk of delays, miscommunications or errors increases. Advanced algorithms are also tough to troubleshoot. Plus, given a swarm’s massive attack surface, it’s more prone to issues, especially in unpredictable or hostile environments.
- Vulnerability: Given a drone swarm’s massive attack surface, hacking and interference are major issues — especially in unpredictable or hostile environments. Swarms are heavily reliant on communication and coordination, making them highly susceptible to cyberattacks or jamming, which not only result in technical disruptions, but also exposure of sensitive data and mission failures.
- Limited battery life: Drone swarms join the queue along with other technology, like electric vehicles and wearables, waiting for better battery solutions. These power constraints can limit a drone’s operational time and range, especially in swarm form.
- Regulation: With drone swarms, regulation can be both a good and bad thing. On one hand, regulations are de facto hindrances to their development. However, due to their potential for high fatality rates and use as a weapon of mass destruction, these guidelines are also crucial.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are drone swarms used for?
Drone swarms are mainly being developed for the defense sector, but they’re also being used to improve efficiency and coordination in areas like surveillance, search-and-rescue, agriculture and entertainment.
Are drone swarms illegal?
No — drone swarms aren’t inherently illegal, but they face application-specific regulations that vary by country.
How do drone swarms know where they are?
Drone swarms figure out where they are using GPS, sensors and onboard navigation systems, staying in constant communication to coordinate with each other and keep tabs of their exact positions.
What are the disadvantages of drone swarms?
Drone swarms face several challenges, including limited battery life, vulnerability to hacking, regulatory hurdles and the complexity of coordinating large groups of drones in crowded or difficult environments.
