Unmanned Helicopters and Helicopter Drones

Find manufacturers of unmanned helicopters, helicopter drones and UAVs for military, industrial and environmental applications. Includes rotary wing drones used for search and rescue, security and surveillance operations.
Overview Unmanned Helicopters and Helicopter Drones
By Mike Ball Last updated: February 28th, 2024

UAV Helicopter & Single Rotor Drones

What is an Unmanned Helicopter?

Helicopter drones are unmanned aircraft that operate on the same flight principles as manned helicopters, using spinning rotors to generate lift and thrust. The most common rotor configuration uses a single main rotor, plus a tail rotor that provides counter-torque. Tandem rotor and tiltrotor helicopter UAVs also exist, featuring rotors mounted on rotating engine pods that change angle to provide vertical lift or forward flight.

Single rotor drones may be designed from the ground up or converted from existing manned platforms. The latter may feature the option to switch between piloted or unmanned flight, and in this case may be referred to as Optionally Piloted Vehicles (OPVs).

UMS-SKELDAR-V-200-Single-Rota-Drone
UMS SKELDAR-V-200 Rotary Wing Drone

Propulsion

Due to the size of most rotary wing UAVs, they are typically powered by gasoline or diesel engines. Batteries have a lower energy density than conventional fuels, and the weight of batteries required to provide long flight times would be prohibitive. Micro-sized and nano helicopter UAVs, designed to be carried by a single operator and typically used for short-duration military and battlefield reconnaissance missions, do exist and are battery-powered.

Alpha-800-Unmanned Helicopter
Alpha-800 Unmanned Helicopter

Fuel cell-based propulsion systems, which convert chemical energy from fuel (typically hydrogen) into useful electrical energy, are also being tested on unmanned platforms. Fuel cells for have a number of advantages, such as clean emissions and a higher energy density than batteries.

Payloads and Applications

Helicopter drones can carry a wide variety of payloads, including daytime and IR cameras, environmental sensors, LiDAR scanning systems and radio relay equipment, as well as missiles and other offensive capabilities.

They are employed for a broad range of missions across many industries and sectors. Applications include:

  • Military and defense
  • ISR (Intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance)
  • Battlefield fire support
  • Search and rescue
  • Security and law enforcement
  • Mapping and surveying
  • Precision agriculture
  • Industrial inspection
Schiebel CAMCOPTER-S-100
UAV Helicopter Schiebel CAMCOPTER-S-100

UAV Helicopters vs Fixed-Wing Drones

Single rotor drones can carry larger payloads and fuel amounts than multirotor UAVs and smaller fixed-wing drones, and thus have greater flight endurance. They are also more efficient at higher speeds.

Due to the VTOL capability of UAS helicopters, they can operate in a wider range of ground conditions than fixed-wing aircraft, which require a certain amount of space to take off and land. This often makes VTOL rotary wing UAVs preferable for maritime operations, inspection and surveillance.

Rotary wing drone designs tend to be more complex than fixed wing counterparts, which can lead to increased maintenance requirements.

Uavos UVH-120E VTOL Drone Helicopter
UAVOS UVH-120E VTOL Helicopter Drone

Products (12)

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Blowfish A4 Unmanned Helicopter

Multi-Mission Heavy Payload Helicopter UAV

Multi-Mission Heavy Payload Helicopter UAV
...fully electric unmanned helicopter that is ideal for undertaking a wide variety of complex missions...
Grey Whale G1

Heavy-lift cargo delivery helicopter UAV

Heavy-lift cargo delivery helicopter UAV
The Grey Whale G1 is a cargo delivery UAV specifically designed to solve the problem of accessing di...
Shadow S3 Unmanned Helicopter

Portable long-endurance helicopter UAV

Portable long-endurance helicopter UAV
...ext-generation unmanned helicopter featuring a revolutionary streamlined design with ducted tail...
Galaxy Unmanned Helicopter

Heavy-lift helicopter UAV with direct drive electric tail system

Heavy-lift helicopter UAV with direct drive electric tail system
...s a heavy-lift unmanned helicopter that is the world's first single-rotor-UAV to use a direct drive...
Falcon 10 Unmanned Helicopter

Electric unmanned helicopter with portable folding design

Electric unmanned helicopter with portable folding design
...small electric unmanned helicopter with a unique folding design that reduces the volume of the...
Velos V3 Helicopter UAV

Small helicopter drone with fully redundant design

Small helicopter drone with fully redundant design
...ersatile Velos unmanned helicopter platform, featuring enhancements in stability, reliability and...
Velos POR Helicopter UAV

Unmanned helicopter with payload over rotor configuration

Unmanned helicopter with payload over rotor configuration
...iant of the V3 unmanned helicopter that enables payloads to be mounted above the aircraft’s rotor...
Ranger P2X Unmanned Helicopter

Long Endurance Electric Unmanned Helicopter

Long Endurance Electric Unmanned Helicopter
...long-endurance unmanned helicopter drone that features a modular quick-disassembly design, allowing...
UVH-170 Unmanned Helicopter

Drone helicopter with 4-stroke gasoline engine

Drone helicopter with 4-stroke gasoline engine
...engine-powered unmanned helicopter specially designed with improved engine cooling for reliable...
Alpha A900 Helicopter UAV

STANAG-compliant for maritime ISR Missions and Border Control

STANAG-compliant for maritime ISR Missions and Border Control
The A900 can be used for many missions, from ISR and border control to infrastructure inspections, c...
Alpha 800 UAV Helicopter

Versatile small unmanned helicopter for ISTAR and Civilian missions

Versatile small unmanned helicopter for ISTAR and Civilian missions
...soline-powered helicopter UAV. The Alpha 800 is a reliable and versatile platform that has much...
SDO 50 V2 Helicopter UAV

Versatile long-range autonomous helicopter drone

Versatile long-range autonomous helicopter drone
...ate-of-the-art unmanned helicopter with a flight endurance of over 3 hours and the ability to...

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