The electric drone of the company AirForestry has completed a full “harvesting” cycle in the forest. Specialists at the Swedish company say this step makes it possible to give up the use of heavy machinery entirely and removes the damage it causes to forest soil.
“The electric drone has felled a tree and “carried” it out of the forest without any machinery on the ground taking part, completing every stage of logging on its own,” said Alex Bakir, managing partner of the venture capital fund Norrsken Evolve, whose firm backs AirForestry, the Uppsala-based green technology company developing the system. A. Bakir confirmed the results at the end of last week.
Alex Bakir has himself overseen the drone’s development from prototype to real work in a forest stand and was not afraid to call this moment historic, describing the autonomous timber harvest as the first achievement of its kind in the world. The company AirForestry reports that the drone first felled trees in the forest and, carrying out the separate operations as well, completed a full harvesting cycle from beginning to end without human intervention. The company has been developing this programme since 2020.
Friendly to the forest
Traditional forest thinning relies on machinery weighing 20 tonnes or more. The machinery is driven deep into the stand in order to fell small-diameter trees whose weight may be only around 80 kilograms. AirForestry estimates that more than 20 per cent of forest soil is damaged solely in order to move heavy machinery through the stand. Forest owners across the world spend around 14 billion euros a year on thinning operations.
The drone is designed to avoid all of that. It flies above the treetops using an electric motor which, of course, leaves no wheel ruts, does not compact the soil and causes no root damage. Its 6.2-metre carbon fibre body is fitted with a specially developed sawing tool. It grips the tree from above, moving downwards, strips it of branches, cuts it close to the ground and carries the trunk to the nearest road.
The system is designed to work at temperatures down to minus 20 degrees, in rain, snow and gusts of wind up to 13 metres per second, the conditions that characterise the Nordic logging season. The drone can lift 200 kilograms, considerably more than the 40-140 kilogram range in which trees intended for thinning usually weigh.
AirForestry backs its method with precise figures. The company believes this approach yields around 8% more timber over a full harvest cycle. Moreover, by not using logging machinery in Swedish forest thinning alone, 23 million tonnes of carbon dioxide would be kept in growing trees. For Alex Bakir, whose firm has followed the drone’s development from a one-metre prototype in 2020 to a working device, this result marks a structural turning point rather than a one-off test. “Logging will no longer damage forest soil,” he says.
Excellent results and growth
The company was founded in 2020 by Olle Gelin, Mauritz Andersson, Markus Romar and Carolina Wallerud. Since then it has attracted the backing of several of Europe’s largest forest owners. C. Wallerud became chief executive in December 2025 and has driven the expansion of AirForestry, after a 10.3 million euro investment programme by Northzone was concluded at the end of 2024.
Carolina Wallerud has set the company an unusually large goal. She claims that thinning carried out with drones can significantly affect the reduction of forestry’s carbon emissions, given the almost unlimited customer demand. “I believe AirForestry could become one of the world’s most important companies in the sector,” she said.
The excellent results achieved in practice are followed by the “first step” of AirForestry outside Sweden: a project begun in January together with the Norwegian state forest management company Statskog in a forest compartment not far from Trondheim. Statskog manages almost a fifth of Norway’s forest area; the trial is testing whether drone thinning can work in steeper and rougher terrain where traditional machinery moves with difficulty.
The co-owner of AirForestry, Olle Gelin, says the Norwegian project shows demand far beyond the boundaries of the home market of AirForestry. “This cooperation with Statskog is a significant step in that direction,” Olle Gelin stresses.
A fleet of drones
Six drones thinning the same stand at once, each flying autonomously, is the operating configuration AirForestry is now aiming for. The company has said this is the point at which the cost of thinning “from the air” will draw level with the cost of traditional machinery. That forms the basis for active commercial operation, which the company is now preparing for.
Drones are only one sector within much wider change. Forestry is currently one of the industries most affected by artificial intelligence. Goldman Sachs analysts estimate that the technology could transform 28 per cent of the work across the sector. At a recent international summit a decision was taken to introduce artificial intelligence into forest management worldwide. The development of technology in forestry is currently making an enormous leap.
AirForestry drone technical parameters
The aircraft developed by AirForestry is one of the largest and most powerful industrial drones in the world. Its parameters are adapted to Nordic winter conditions and it will certainly be usable here in Latvia as well.
The drone’s diameter is 6.2 metres. Its body is made of especially light and durable carbon fibre. It has a fully electric six-rotor, hexacopter, drive system. The drone can lift and transport a load weighing up to 200 kilograms. That is enough to lift trunks of 40-140 kg from a thinning cut. The working tool attached to the drone weighs 60 kilograms. It performs three functions: it grips the tree, strips the branches as it moves downwards and cuts it at ground level. It can work in frost down to -20 °C, in snow, rain and strong gusts of wind up to 13 m/s. The drone runs on high-performance lithium batteries. Although the precise number of minutes in a single flight for the commercial model is confidential for reasons of efficiency, the system is designed to work in a special mode, which means there is a mobile charging station in the forest. The company is currently introducing a fleet of 6 drones that work simultaneously and change batteries autonomously, ensuring an uninterrupted work cycle.
Artificial intelligence and the forest sector
Artificial intelligence (AI) in forestry is no longer a vision of the future but an everyday instrument that helps take decisions based on data. Goldman Sachs analysts estimate that AI could transform up to 28% of the sector’s work.
Digital twins of the forest, and inventory
Traditional forest measurement with a tape is being replaced by AI computer vision. Drones and satellites scan the forest with LiDAR laser scanning technology. AI algorithms process enormous volumes of data within a few minutes, automatically determining tree species, height, trunk diameter and precise timber volume. A three-dimensional “digital twin” is created for the whole forest.
Automated monitoring of young stands and their health
In Latvia too, for example in projects by RTU researchers, AI and drones are being integrated into the monitoring of young stands. The AI is trained to recognise and assess young trees, checking whether tending work has been carried out to a good standard. Algorithms can analyse changes in the colour of the canopy on satellite images in order to spot an invasion of pests or a disease several weeks before a person notices them.
Timber accounting and logistics optimisation
Companies such as Timbeter use neural networks for timber accounting. It is enough for a person to photograph a load of logs with a smartphone, and within a second the AI application counts the logs and calculates their volume. In transport planning AI calculates the most efficient routes for timber lorries, taking road conditions and the weather into account, reducing fuel consumption and CO₂ emissions.
Forecasting fires and storm damage
Neural networks analyse historical data, soil moisture and weather forecasts in order to identify high-risk zones and even to forecast the direction in which a fire will spread. Platforms such as Rezatec combine satellite data with AI in order to map fallen forests immediately after storms, assess the volume of timber and set priorities for work before the timber begins to deteriorate.