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Military drones are becoming more prominent in wars as time goes on. As a result, people are getting more interested in this subject including drone sizes.
We wanted here to find out the average size of military drones or UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles).
To accomplish that, we have performed a comprehensive research online. Here is what we did exactly:
Research Method
The research involved analyzing the size of over 210 various drone models from 34 countries worldwide.
Based on the available data, we got the overall average size of a military UAV in addition to the averages which are based on the drone’s function, maximum altitude, and origin country. The value included is for each of the drone’s length, wingspan, height and gross weight.
For your convenience, we calculated the drone sizes in both imperial units (feet/inches, pounds) and metric (meters, kilograms).
The drone’s functions used in the research are; target (for training), surveillance (or reconnaissance), combat (for strikes), and loitering munition (i.e. suicide drone). Here are a few examples of each:
- Target drones: DRDO Lakshya and BQM-74C Chukar
- Surveillance drones:IAI Heron and STC Orlan-10
- Combat drones: CH-3 Rainbow and MQ-1 Predator
- Loitering munitions: Shahed-136 and AeroVironment Switchblade
The drone’s types by altitude used are tactical, MALE (medium altitude, long endurance), and HALE (high altitude, long endurance). Some examples of them are the following:
- Tactical drones: ASN-209 and RQ-7 Shadow
- MALE drones: Shahed-129 and Bayraktar TB2
- HALE drones: RQ-4 Global Hawk and Wing Loong-10
Please keep in mind that we only researched fixed-wing drones since they’re probably the most popular. Also, we only considered drones that are either still in-service or under development. That means ignoring any drones that have been retired after some time or abandoned during development.
With all that said, following are the research results:
Average Size of Military Drones by Function
Below are the drone sizes in both metric and imperial units (sorted by wingspan in descending order):
| Average Size of Military Drones by Function | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Drone Type | Length (m) | Wingspan (m) | Height (m) | Gross Weight (kg) |
| Combat | 7.68 | 13.97 | 2.6 | 2,173 |
| Surveillance | 4.12 | 7.27 | 1.34 | 863 |
| Target | 4.15 | 4.46 | 1.38 | 724 |
| Suicide | 2.1 | 2.5 | 0.45 | 80 |
| Average Size of Military Drones by Function | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Drone Type | Length (ft,in) | Wingspan (ft,in) | Height (ft,in) | Gross Weight (lb) |
| Combat | 25′ 2.3″ | 45′ 10.1″ | 8′ 6.2″ | 4,792 |
| Surveillance | 13′ 6.4″ | 23′ 10.2″ | 4′ 4.9″ | 1,903 |
| Target | 13′ 7.2″ | 14′ 7.5″ | 4′ 6.4″ | 1,597 |
| Suicide | 6′ 10.5″ | 8′ 2.3″ | 1′ 5.9″ | 177 |
Based on the table above, combat drones are hands down the biggest type of military drones in terms of both dimensions and gross weight while suicide drones (or loitering munitions) are the smallest.
Combat drones are the largest type of military drones in terms of both dimensions and gross weight while loitering munitions are the smallest.
Also, there isn’t much difference between the length and wingspan for target and suicide drones. However; for surveillance and combat drones, the wingspan is almost double the length.
Another thing, surveillance and target drones have a similar length and height.
Average Size of Military Drones by Altitude
The following UAV sizes are both in metric and imperial units (sorted in descending order):
| Average Size of Military Drones by Altitude | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Drone Class | Length (m) | Wingspan (m) | Height (m) | Gross Weight (kg) |
| HALE | 10.2 | 19.6 | 3.18 | 5,112 |
| MALE | 6.51 | 11.63 | 2.05 | 1,414 |
| Tactical | 2.62 | 4.01 | 0.84 | 135 |
| Others | 1.83 | 2.7 | 0.58 | 40 |
| Average Size of Military Drones by Altitude | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Drone Class | Length (ft,in) | Wingspan (ft,in) | Height (ft,in) | Gross Weight (lb) |
| HALE | 33′ 5.8″ | 64′ 3.5″ | 10′ 5.2″ | 11,272 |
| MALE | 21′ 4.2″ | 38′ 1.9″ | 6′ 8.8″ | 3,118 |
| Tactical | 8′ 7″ | 13′ 2″ | 2′ 9.1″ | 297 |
| Others | 6′ | 8′ 10.4″ | 1′ 10.7″ | 88 |
The data unsurprisingly shows that the military drone’s size is the biggest (in all dimensions and total weight) for HALE drones, followed by MALE, then tactical, and lastly the rest.
Higher Altitude Requires bigger military drones.
This size difference indicates that higher altitude would demand a bigger drone size.
Average Size of Military Drones by Country
Here are the drone sizes in imperial and metric units (sorted by length/wingspan in descending order):
| Average Size of Military Drones by Country | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Origin Country | Length (m) | Wingspan (m) | Height (m) | Gross Weight (kg) |
| China | 7.46 | 13.21 | 2.64 | 2,446 |
| Turkey | 5.35 | 9.04 | 1.86 | 1,284 |
| Iran | 4.74 | 8.05 | 2.06 | 803 |
| US | 4.36 | 7.92 | 1.52 | 1,251 |
| Israel | 4.29 | 6.84 | 0.97 | 516 |
| Russia | 3.31 | 6.09 | 1.03 | 811 |
| Ukraine | 2.64 | 4.4 | 0.47 | 179 |
| Average Size of Military Drones by Country | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Origin Country | Length (ft,in) | Wingspan (ft,in) | Height (ft,in) | Gross Weight (lb) |
| China | 24′ 5.6″ | 43′ 4″ | 8′ 7.9″ | 5,394 |
| Turkey | 17′ 6.5″ | 29′ 7.7″ | 6′ 1.2″ | 2,832 |
| Iran | 15′ 6.4″ | 26′ 4.9″ | 6′ 9″ | 1,771 |
| US | 14′ 3.7″ | 25′ 11.9″ | 4′ 11.8″ | 2,758 |
| Israel | 14′ 0.9″ | 22′ 5.3″ | 3′ 2.1″ | 1,138 |
| Russia | 10′ 10.4″ | 19′ 11.7″ | 3′ 4.5″ | 1,789 |
| Ukraine | 8′ 7.8″ | 14′ 5.4″ | 1′ 6.6″ | 396 |
Those seven countries in the two tables above make the vast majority of military drone models out there. This is why we included only them here.
The data shows without a doubt that China manufactures the biggest military drones by far in terms of both dimensions and gross weight. This is even though we have taken into account other countries that make a significant number of drone models such as France, India, and Pakistan.
China makes the largest military drones by far in terms of both dimensions and gross weight.
Turkey creates the second largest military drones overall. The third biggest drones based on dimensions are made by Iran and the third heaviest drones (by weight) are produced by the United States.
It’s worth noting that even though Turkey seems to have bigger military drones than Iran (in terms of wingspan/length), the latter’s drones are taller for some reason.
On the other hand, the smallest military drones for military purposes are manufactured by Ukraine (at least within those seven countries mentioned in the tables above).
Average Size of Military UAVs
We calculated the overall average size of all military drones and here are the results:
| Average Size of Military Drones | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Length | Wingspan | Height | Gross Weight |
| 4.8 m (15′ 9″) | 8.31 m (27′ 3.2″) | 1.68 m (5′ 6.3″) | 1,097 kg (2,418 lb) |
The wingspan of a military drone is, on average, about one and seventy-five hundredths (1.75) the length.
On average, the wingspan of military drones is around one and seventy-five hundredths (1.75) their length.
It’s also clear that China’s millitary UAVs are much bigger than the average in terms of all dimensions and total weight.
Other Research Findings
Here are some other interesting stats concluded from the research:
- The majority of military drone models (about 58%) are for surveillance purposes while only a quarter (around 26%) is for drone strikes.
- The three UAV types by altitude (tactical, MALE, and HALE) constitute around 90% of all models of military drones in the world.
- Almost 70% of all military drone models out there are made by only seven countries which are the United States, China, Russia, Iran, Turkey, Israel, and Ukraine.
Conclusion
Those are the average sizes of military drones worldwide based on altitude, function, origin country along with the overall average.
To reiterate, the averages included are for each of the length, wingspan, height, and gross weight. And they’re in both metric (meters and kilograms) and imperial units (feet/inches and pounds).
Some of the interesting size-related stats we found based on the research are the following:
- The wingspan of military drones is around one and seventy-five hundredths their length.
- Combat drones are the biggest kind of military UAVs.
- Higher altitudes require a larger and heavier military drone.
- China manufactures the largest military drones in the world.
Whatever the reason that you want to learn about military drones, we hope this article was helpful for you.
Under the References section below, you will find all the websites from which we retrieved the research data.
Feel free to share this information with others to spread the knowledge. And let us know if you have any questions regarding the research.
