AirForestry has now harvested trees in a real forest and completed a fully autonomous harvest sequence on the test field.

We were out operating in a real stand, working with real trees, proving the system functions in the environment it was built for. And, later, on the test field, we demonstrated the autonomous sequence, the drone flew to position, identified the tree, harvested it, dropped it off.

Two separate milestones but together, they mean the system has now been validated both in controlled conditions and in actual production forest environments.

Thinning is one of the most important interventions in forestry. Removing the right trees at the right time allows the remaining forest to grow faster, stronger, and become more valuable, increasing timber yield by up to 8% over a full rotation cycle with AirForestry's system. Today, more than 20% of the forest floor is clear-cut just to carve a path for the ground machinery to reach the trees. Our system never touches the forest floor.

Ground machines weigh 20 tons to fell trees weighing just 80 kg. The soil compaction, root damage, and disrupted water flows that follow cost forest owners billions every year. AirForestry's electric drones operate from the air: no ground contact, no logging trails, no diesel.

Forest owners globally spend €14 billion per year on thinning alone. AirForestry's system works in all terrains and all seasons, having operated in temperatures from -20°C to +25°C, in gusts up to 13 m/s, and in both rain and snow.

The forest floor is no longer where forestry happens.

This is all possible thanks to our wonderful partners and collaborators!