Foldable & Backpack Drones

Find Backpack Drone manufacturers and suppliers of one-person portable, foldable drones including folding multirotors and fixed-wing UAV for military and commercial applications

Suppliers

Add your company
Ascent AeroSystems

Compact, American-Made, All-Weather Drones Designed To Fly When Others Can’t, No Matter The Mission

Altus LSA

Innovative Turnkey UAS Solutions for Mission-Critical Civilian & Defense Applications

Red Cat Holdings

Advanced Aerial Intelligence & Situational Awareness Technologies for Military, Security & Civilian Applications

Performance Drone Works (PDW)

High-Performance Autonomous Drones for Mission-Critical Civilian & Military Applications

Airvolute

Cutting-Edge Drone Autopilots & UAS Platforms | Hardware & Software Solutions for Drones & Unmanned Systems

Nearthlab

AI-Powered Autonomous Drone Solutions for Public Safety, Defense, and Industrial Inspection

Vantage Robotics

State-Of-The-Art NDAA-Compliant Drones & Ground Control Stations for Mission-Critical Operations

Woot Tech Aerospace

Commercial Drones for Delivery, Surveying, Agriculture, Security & Mapping - Target Drones - UAS GCS

T-DRONES

Industrial Multirotor Drones, Long-Endurance Fixed Wing VTOL UAVs, & High-Energy-Density Li-ion Batteries

WISPR Systems

Customizable, Industrial Quadcopter Drone for Aerial Mapping, Surveying & Inspections

HD Air Studio

Drone Camera Gimbals, Mounts & Stabilizers - Custom and COTS Gimbals

Black Swift Technologies

Autonomous UAS, Research & Inspection UAVs for Industrial Inspection, Survey & Mapping

Acecore Technologies

Professional Drones, Quadcopters, Multirotors & Hexacopters for Cinematography, Survey & Inspection

Showcase your capabilities

If you design, build or supply Backpack Drones, create a profile to showcase your capabilities on this page

Create Supplier Profile

Products

Spirit Coaxial Rotor VTOL UAS

Modular coaxial drone with compact cylindrical airframe

Modular coaxial drone with compact cylindrical airframe
... the versatile drone can be carried in a backpack and quickly and easily deployed for a wide variety... ... bottom of the drone. This allows the UAS to be configured for a range of missions with versatility...
ATLAS 204 A20

Compact and rapidly-deployable multipurpose quadcopter UAS

Compact and rapidly-deployable multipurpose quadcopter UAS
...LSA's smallest drone platform, designed to require only a small logistical footprint and to be...
Black Widow Multirotor UAS

Portable sUAS for short-range ISR & electronic warfare

Portable sUAS for short-range ISR & electronic warfare
... UAS-certified drone system is part of Red Cat's Arachnid Family of Systems, which has been...
C100 Heavy-Lift Quadcopter

Foldable long-endurance heavy payload drone

Foldable long-endurance heavy payload drone
...ght and power) drone easily folds down into a small rucksack and can be deployed and airborne in...
Stribog

Foldable quadcopter drone with software-defined architecture for flexible ISR

Foldable quadcopter drone with software-defined architecture for flexible ISR
...ansported in a backpack, and can be rapidly deployed in under 4 minutes. Stribog has been...
AiDEN

Compact autonomous drone with advanced computer vision

Compact autonomous drone with advanced computer vision
...om traditional drones that rely on bulky LiDAR sensors. Instead, it leverages Nearthlab’s patented...
Trace UAS

Pocket-sized NDAA-compliant nano-drone for aerial reconnaissance

Pocket-sized NDAA-compliant nano-drone for aerial reconnaissance
...sion2 GCS, the foldable drone can be carried in a backpackable IP67-rated carrying case with a total...
Acecore Zoe Quadcopter

Portable quadcopter for high wind inspection, security and mapping.

Portable quadcopter for high wind inspection, security and mapping.
...ble quadcopter drone with a foldable design for easy transportation and deployment. With a maximum...

Foldable & Backpack Drones

Sarah Simpson

Updated:

Portable Drones & UAV

X-LITE Folding UAV for Rapid Deployment by Plymouth Rock Technologies

X-LITE Folding UAV for Rapid Deployment by Plymouth Rock Technologies

Foldable drones and UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) are engineered for maximum portability, with a design that allows them to be stored and carried in a smaller footprint than the space taken up when deployed for flight.

Most folding drones are small quadcopter or hexacopter multirotor drones that are designed to fit in a convenient transportation method such as a proprietary case or standard airline carry-on baggage. Some foldable fixed-wing UAV designs do exist, with wings that can be folded back against the body so that the drone can be packed more easily into a crate.

Folding Drones – Multirotors & Quadcopters

Spirit UAS Modular Backpack Drone by Ascent AeroSystems

Spirit UAS Modular Backpack Drone by Ascent AeroSystems

The arms of folding multirotor drones may fold against or underneath the body, and propellers may also fold or have to be removed manually. The manner in which the arms are folded may also provide enhanced protection for the drone’s payload gimbal during transit.

Backpackable & One Person Portable

Folding drones may also be designed to fit into a backpack, making them one-person portable. Backpackable drones may also take the form of other designs, such as multirotor drones with removable or spring-loaded arms, and fixed-wing drones with removable wings. The drone backpack may also be used to carry additional equipment such as spare batteries and propellers, chargers, and swappable payloads.

SkyRobot FX10 Fixed-Wing Hand-Launched UAV by Robot Aviation

SkyRobot FX10 Fixed-Wing Hand-Launched UAV by Robot Aviation

In addition to enhanced portability, backpackable drones with removable arms have the advantage of being convenient to repair, as the modular design allows faulty parts to be easily replaced. Removable and spring-loaded arms are also less likely to snap under rough transport conditions.

Commercial & Military Applications

Backpackable drones, including multirotor drones and hand-launched fixed-wing drones, are used for a wide range of applications, including mapping and surveying, aerial photography, military ISR (intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance), and search and rescue (SAR). Tube-launched backpack drones are also used by the military as a form of non-reusable loitering munitions capability.

Alta X Folding Quadcopter by Freefly Systems

Alta X Folding Quadcopter by Freefly Systems

Related Articles

US Army Invests in PDW’s Long-Endurance Quadcopters

Performance Drone Works received $20.9 million from the U.S. Army to supply C100 drones with modular payloads, advancing reconnaissance, electronic warfare, and rapid battlefield support under the TiC program.

Sep 26, 2025
Multispectral Camera Technology Integrated on Ascent AeroSystems Coaxial Drones

Ascent AeroSystems now offers the MicaSense RedEdge-P™ on Spirit™ and Spartan™ UAVs, delivering precise multispectral imaging for agriculture and environmental monitoring

Sep 24, 2025
New Multi-Mission Long-Endurance UAV for Industrial Applications

T-DRONES has introduced the EC11, a multi-mission UAV with 2-hour flight endurance, a powerful propulsion system, and low-noise performance, suitable for challenging industrial operations and applications such as nocturnal missions and wildlife monitoring

Sep 02, 2025
Canadian UAVs Named Exclusive Canadian Reseller of PDW’s Tactical C100 Drone

Canadian UAVs will distribute PDW’s C100 multi-mission drone in Canada, offering defense and industrial sectors a U.S. Army-approved, long-endurance UAV with advanced autonomy and secure communications

Jun 02, 2025
Survey-Grade Drone for Precision Mapping & Tactical ISR Introduced

Unveiled at XPONENTIAL 2025, Skyfish’s Osprey drone offers advanced U.S.-made capabilities for precision inspection, 3D mapping, and tactical ISR operations

May 23, 2025
Ascent AeroSystems: Conducting All-Weather Operations with the Spirit UAS

Ascent AeroSystems explains how its Spirit UAS remains operable through snow, rain, and strong winds, leveraging a rugged coaxial design and adaptable open-architecture system

Apr 23, 2025
Ascent AeroSystems SPIRIT Awarded AUVSI Green UAS Certification

Green UAS certification is a fully vetted signal to industry and operators that the Spirit UAV platform is a safe and secure platform for a wide range of mission profiles

Jan 14, 2025
Group 2 sUAS Selected for U.S. Army MRR Requirements

PDW’s C100 sUAS has been selected for the U.S. Army Directed Requirement for Company-Level sUAS, enhancing fire and maneuver in near-peer and contested operating environments

Oct 01, 2024
NDAA-Compliant Drones & Ground Control Stations for Tactical & Civilian Operations

Vantage Robotics' drone platforms feature uncompromising build quality and thousands of hours of flight testing

Sep 18, 2024