My Visit to World Drone Congress 2026 and the 11th Shenzhen International UAV Expo: A Personal View
May 21, 2026, Shenzhen.
At a little after 9 a.m., I arrived at the Shenzhen Convention and Exhibition Center to visit World Drone Congress 2026 | the 11th Shenzhen International UAV Expo (UASE). It was raining heavily in Shenzhen that morning, so the weather was not ideal, but there were still many visitors entering the exhibition center. After walking into the halls, I could clearly feel that the atmosphere of this year’s show was very different from last year.
This was no longer simply an exhibition where companies placed several drones on a table for visitors to see. Compared with last year, the 2026 show was much more focused on low-altitude security, industry applications, AI intelligence, industrial payloads, batteries, and propulsion systems. Many exhibitors were no longer only showing drone platforms. Instead, they were placing drones into real application scenarios and presenting complete system solutions.
In previous years, many exhibitors mainly displayed airframes, motors, batteries, cameras, gimbals, or complete UAV platforms. This year, my strongest impression was that the exhibition paid much more attention to real industry applications, complete solutions, and scenario-based deployment. The drone industry is no longer only talking about “what kind of drone we can build,” but more about “what real problem this drone system can solve.”
Counter-UAV Exhibitors Increased Significantly
One of the most obvious changes this year was the clear increase in counter-UAV, low-altitude security, and anti-drone exhibitors. Compared with last year, there were more companies showing drone detection, jamming, radar, interception, and low-altitude security systems.
This trend is consistent with China’s stronger regulation of drones and low-altitude flight. As drones become more common in logistics, inspection, agriculture, public safety, and consumer use, the demand for drone supervision, detection, and countermeasures is also growing quickly.
At the exhibition, companies such as TerJin and AWP Tech were quite visible in the counter-UAV sector. Their booths and marketing materials mainly focused on drone detection, control, and low-altitude security. In my view, counter-UAV is becoming a very important segment of China’s drone industry.
Drone Applications Are Becoming More Deeply Integrated into Real Industries
Another major change was that drone applications are becoming more mature across different industries. This year, I rarely saw companies simply placing several drones on display. More exhibitors were presenting complete industry application systems.
For example, I saw many solutions related to high-rise building cleaning, solar panel cleaning, firefighting, emergency rescue, industrial inspection, gas detection, public safety, low-altitude patrol, and special payload operations.
This was very different from previous exhibitions. In the past, some companies mainly displayed the drone platform itself. This year, many companies showed the complete workflow: drone, payload, software, control system, video transmission system, and real application scenario.
A company like Wisson left a strong impression on me. Their display was not just about drones, but about cleaning systems, firefighting equipment, rescue solutions, and other industry-specific payloads. This reflects a larger trend: the UAV industry is moving from hardware display to real commercial deployment.
AI + Drone Is No Longer Just a Concept
The trend of AI + Drone was also very clear this year. AI is being integrated into many parts of drone systems, especially target recognition, target locking, image analysis, video transmission, and drone swarm control.
In the past, AI was often just a marketing term. This year, I felt it was more closely connected with actual functions. Some systems demonstrated AI-assisted target tracking, automatic recognition, and intelligent control logic. AI integration with drone swarm systems is also becoming more obvious, because multiple drones need to coordinate with each other, share information, and make decisions more efficiently.
For industrial drones, AI will likely become part of the core system rather than just an additional feature. It can improve the efficiency of inspection, security, emergency response, mapping, reconnaissance, and defense applications.
The FPV Drone Area Was Much Smaller Than in Previous Years
The FPV Drone area was clearly smaller than in previous years. I believe this is closely related to China’s domestic flight restrictions and stronger drone regulation. FPV drones are still popular overseas, especially in racing, freestyle, cinematic flying, and the hobby market, but inside China, the environment has clearly become more difficult.
Among FPV-related brands, Caddx and Axisflying still had relatively spacious booths and complete product displays. Caddx continued to represent the FPV video transmission and camera side, while Axisflying also showed FPV frames, motors, and related products.
However, many other brands had clearly reduced their exhibition scale. GEPRC, iFlight, BETAFPV, HAKRC, and several other brands had much smaller display areas than before, and the products on display did not feel very new. Although there were still flight controllers, ESCs, frames, and complete FPV drones, I did not see many breakthrough new products.
From my personal perspective, the FPV market has not disappeared, but at this year’s exhibition, it was no longer the most active section.
Many New Players Appeared in Drone Propulsion Systems
The propulsion system area was quite interesting this year. Traditional leading brands such as Hobbywing, T-Motor, and MAD still maintained strong positions. They remain important suppliers for industrial drones, agricultural drones, heavy-lift drones, and FPV drones.
But this year, I also noticed several newer or previously less visible brands becoming more active, such as XDYNVIA, YKB, Sinemotion, and EaglePower. From the photos I took, there were many industrial drone motors on display, along with a large number of propulsion system brochures. These brands are clearly entering or expanding in the industrial UAV propulsion market.
This shows that the drone motor and propulsion system market is becoming more competitive. For large UAVs, motors are no longer only about thrust. Efficiency, reliability, heat dissipation, waterproofing, ESC matching, and long-term stability are becoming increasingly important.
Flight Controllers and Autopilot Were Quite Weak This Year
The flight controller and autopilot area felt quite quiet this year. Holybro did not attend, and I am not sure why. In previous years, brands like Holybro had a strong presence in the Pixhawk and autopilot ecosystem.
This year, I mainly saw CUAV, JIYI, and some relatively non-mainstream solutions such as EFYI. Compared with propulsion systems, batteries, payloads, and industry application solutions, the flight controller area did not feel very active.
I also saw HAKRC displaying flight controllers, ESCs, and integrated electronic modules, but overall, the autopilot sector had a much weaker presence this year. This may suggest that the market is becoming more concentrated, or that many flight controller companies no longer treat exhibitions as their main promotion channel.
Drone Payloads Are Changing: Fewer Traditional Gimbals, More Specialized Tools
The drone payload sector also changed a lot this year. Traditional camera gimbals seemed to shrink significantly. For example, Topotek almost looked like it was transforming its business direction. It did not focus on drone camera gimbals and instead showed unmanned ground vehicle-related products.
By comparison, ViewPro and HONPHO still displayed more camera gimbal products, including optical zoom, thermal imaging, and multi-sensor payloads. XF and CZI also showcased their respective drone payload products, Drone Gimbal, Drone Light, Drone Speakers.
But the bigger change was the increase in various specialized drone payloads. I saw stronger dropping devices, cleaning equipment, flexible robotic arms, and many payloads designed for specific tasks. Some tools looked like an “elephant trunk” style mechanical arm, which could be used for grabbing, operating, or making contact with objects in the air.
This shows that the drone payload market is becoming more application-driven. A drone is no longer just a flying camera. It is becoming an aerial work platform.
The Agricultural Drone Area Was Surprisingly Small
The agricultural drone area was much smaller than I expected. I mainly saw EFT, JIS clearly displaying agricultural drone-related products. Other companies did not appear strongly as agricultural drone exhibitors.
This was a little surprising, because agricultural drones used to be one of the most important parts of drone exhibitions in China. My personal feeling is that China’s agricultural drone market may already be quite mature, and many companies no longer use exhibitions to display standard crop-spraying drones. This market may now be shifting more toward services, distribution channels, overseas sales, and parts supply.
Drone Batteries Increased Significantly, with a Stronger Branding Trend
Compared with last year, there were clearly more drone battery companies this year. More importantly, these battery companies looked more branded and professional, rather than simple factory-style exhibitors.
I saw brands such as XINGTO, ZHIAN, Tattu, DUPU and Jarwin. High-density batteries and solid-state battery concepts were more visible. For industrial drones, battery energy density is still one of the biggest limitations, so this field is very important.
The trend is clear: drone batteries are moving toward higher energy density, better safety, faster charging, longer cycle life, and brand-based competition. For heavy-lift drones, inspection drones, and long-endurance UAVs, battery technology may determine how fast the whole industry can grow.
Remote Controllers and Video Transmission Systems
In the drone remote controller area, the most visible brands this year were Skydroid, Jumper, and Radiolink. Other remote control brands did not have a strong presence.
For video transmission, FPV video systems were still mainly represented by Caddx, while long-range video transmission was mainly represented by brands such as Mainlink. This also matches the current industry split: FPV focuses more on compact HD digital video systems, while industrial drones need long-distance, stable, and integrated communication systems.
My Overall Impression
After visiting World Drone Congress 2026 and UASE, my biggest feeling is that the drone industry is becoming more serious, more regulated, and more application-driven.
The old stage of simply “showing a drone” is fading. The new stage is more focused on complete industry solutions, counter-UAV and low-altitude security, AI recognition and intelligent control, specialized drone payloads, branded battery systems, industrial-grade propulsion systems, and applications that can truly be commercialized.
At the same time, FPV drones, traditional camera gimbals, agricultural drones, and open autopilot hardware seemed weaker at this year’s exhibition than before. This does not mean these markets have disappeared, but at this show, they were no longer the main focus.
For me, this year’s exhibition showed a very clear direction: the future of drones is not only about flying, but about working in real-world scenarios. Cleaning, firefighting, rescue, inspection, detection, defense, logistics, and industrial operations are becoming the real battlefield of the UAV industry.
World Drone Congress 2026 made me feel that China’s drone industry is entering a new stage. It is becoming more professional, more regulated, and more focused on practical value. For anyone working in drones, UAV parts, batteries, motors, payloads, or autonomous control systems, this change is very important to watch.
