At the Tianjin International UAV Exhibit, a Chinese manufacturer debuted an inflatable UAV.
It is designed for low speed, low altitude roles, such as conducting aerial survey, remote sensing and reconnaissance. Militarily speaking, the smaller footprint of an inflatable UAV means that it would enable smaller groups of soldiers (at the squad and platoon levels) to carry higher and further flying UAVs than they normally could.
Of course, inflatable UAVs do have their drawbacks; they would take a lot longer launch due to the time needed to inflate itself and may be less maneuverable, and certainly slower than most systems.
