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Calculate accurate flight times for your drone based on real-world conditions including wind, temperature, altitude, and terrain.
Drone Database / Best for cold weather
Cold kills drone batteries: below roughly 10 °C, lithium chemistry internal resistance rises and delivered capacity drops. Every drone here is rated by its manufacturer to operate at -10 °C, and the ranking is driven by modelled flight time at that temperature — not marketing claims.
Ranked by modelled flight time at -10 °C. Only drones whose rated operating range covers -10 °C qualify.
| # | Drone | Use-case spec | Modelled — -10 °C, 8 mph wind, sea level | Modelled — mild (20 °C, 5 mph) | Retained |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | IAI Heron — full specifications | Rated to -30 °C | 2469 min | 2556 min | 97% |
| 2 | General Atomics Gray Eagle Extended Range — full specifications | Rated to -35 °C | 2222 min | 2638 min | 84% |
| 3 | Elbit Systems Hermes 900 — full specifications | Rated to -30 °C | 1883 min | 1987 min | 95% |
| 4 | Northrop Grumman RQ-4 Global Hawk — full specifications | Rated to -50 °C | 1736 min | 1805 min | 96% |
| 5 | Northrop Grumman RQ-180 — full specifications | Rated to -55 °C | 1569 min | 1656 min | 95% |
| 6 | Northrop Grumman RQ-4 Global Hawk — full specifications | Rated to -50 °C | 1521 min | 1625 min | 94% |
| 7 | Northrop Grumman MQ-4C Triton — full specifications | Rated to -45 °C | 1254 min | 1324 min | 95% |
| 8 | IAI Searcher Mk II — full specifications | Rated to -25 °C | 1107 min | 1141 min | 97% |
Minutes are modelled by the site's physics engine (ISA air density at the scenario elevation, boundary-layer turbulence at a representative 400 ft AGL cruise, battery temperature efficiency) from each manufacturer's rated baseline — the same engine that powers the flight calculator. See the methodology. "Retained" is the use-case scenario time as a share of the mild-conditions time for the same drone.
This hub is generated from our drone database of 489 models: drones that fail the use-case requirements (rated operating range, service ceiling, transmission range, weight class) are excluded, the rest are ranked by the modelled numbers above — there is no editorial re-ordering and no sponsored placement.