Giant Aerial Forestry Drone by AirForestry Enters Live Field Trials, Redefining Global Forest Management

At the heart of the solution is an enormous 6-meter-diameter heavy-lift multirotor drone, capable of carrying payloads up to 200 kg. The unmanned platform performs the entire forestry workflow entirely from the air: it positions itself above target trees, secures the canopy, prunes branches, cleanly fells the trunk, and then airlifts the whole harvested timber out of the site — no heavy ground machinery required at any stage.

This breakthrough design delivers transformative benefits over conventional logging methods:

- Minimal environmental footprint: 100% aerial operation eliminates soil compaction and ground ecosystem damage

- Solves critical labor gaps: Cuts reliance on scarce, high-risk manual forestry work

- Precision sustainable thinning: Selectively removes excess trees to improve forest health, boost growing space for remaining timber, and drastically reduce wildfire risk

- Unmatched terrain access: Operates reliably across steep slopes, wetlands, and remote areas unreachable by traditional harvesters

The company is currently scaling its engineering, testing and production teams to accelerate final system optimization and mass readiness. The complete automated drone system will be available commercially at a starting price of €45,000.

Industry analysts widely agree this technology represents a paradigm shift for the global forestry sector. By moving core operations from heavy ground fleets to intelligent aerial platforms, the industry will transition toward a far more automated, economical, and environmentally sustainable operating model for decades to come.