ideaForge
🇮🇳 IN Serves IN, global
Indian drone manufacturer for defense, mapping and security.
- Purchase
- Public quote page
- 3 jobs
- Oct 25, 2026
Public Safety & Defense
Search and rescue
Short answer Published prices for search and rescue run from $6,899 per unit (1 price from 1 source, United States; newest dated Oct 25, 2026). Every receipt is below.
Thermal drones and robots searching for missing people, avalanche victims and disaster survivors.
People ask for this as: “search and rescue drone”, “SAR drone”, “find missing person drone”
Quick facts
- Typical published range
- from $6,899 per unit
- Price receipts
- 1 price from 1 source
- Who does it
- 11 providers, 2 sell it as a service
- Where
- 4 countries with a local provider: 🇺🇸 United States, 🇨🇦 Canada, 🇮🇳 India
Last updated · Cite this page
How it works
Robots used
- Thermal Drone
Ways to buy it
- Purchase Buy the robot (plus software and service plans, usually).
- Service — you pay for the outcome (one inspection, one show, X acres).
- Rental — the machine for days or weeks.
Bot or Not?
A robot makes sense when…
- The job is high, dangerous, or hard to reach
- It is huge or repetitive (acres, nights, square metres)
- You need data you will compare over time
- You need eyes on it right now
Hire a human when…
- It is small, low and one-off
- It needs hands, judgement or a repair
- Weather, permits or timing make robots awkward
- Nobody has defined the job yet
Here's the catch for this job
- Grants (e.g., DHS, FEMA) often fund public-safety robots.
- Ask for training and certification packages.
Rules of thumb, not a sales pitch. Take the Ladder Test →
What it costs
Published ranges, each with a receipt. Not quotes: your price depends on scope, location and date. older price = 18+ months.
The receipt as a table
| What | Range | Unit | Region | Receipt |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DJI Matrice 4T thermal drone (search & rescue / public safety), Essential Package, US dealer TerraXplore | from $6,899 | / unit | US | terra-xplore.com as of Oct 25, 2026 |
Dataset: Search and rescue price receipts (Whirrwork). 1 published price for search and rescue, each with its source link and as-of date. Old observations are kept, never overwritten. JSON · history JSON · all downloads · CC BY 4.0
Follow price changes for this job Atom feed: one entry per new or changed price, with its receipt. All feeds
Price history
Only one observation per series so far: we started recording every price on 2026-10-25 and re-check every source on a schedule. A trend appears when a re-checked source shows a different price (we never overwrite old observations).
| Series | Latest | Observations | Observed | Trend | Receipt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DJI Matrice 4T thermal drone (search & rescue / public safety), Essential Package, US… | from $6,899 / unit | 1 | Oct 25, 2026 | — | terra-xplore.com |
Append-only: we never overwrite a recorded price. JSON: /api/prices/history?use_case=search-and-rescue-drone
What to specify and ask
Put these in your request and you'll get a real price instead of "it depends":
- Team size and pilots to equip or train
- Thermal, spotlight, speaker or payload drop needed
- Agency or organization
- Use case
- Response time needs
- Environment (urban, wilderness, hazmat)
- Training needs
- Budget/grant source
Rules and regulation
Public safety drone programs need COA/Part 107 (US) or equivalent; demining follows IMAS standards; hazmat robots may need ATEX certification.
General information, not legal advice. Rules change; ask the operator which permits they hold and verify them.
Providers who do this
Filters by headquarters or published service area.
Draganfly
🇨🇦 CA Serves CA, US
Canadian drone manufacturer and services provider.
- Purchase
- Service
- Public quote page
- 3 jobs
- Oct 25, 2026
BRINC Drones
🇺🇸 US Serves US, global
US public safety drone maker for 911 response.
- Purchase
- Public quote page
- 3 jobs
- Oct 25, 2026
DJI Enterprise
🇨🇳 CN Serves global
Chinese maker of enterprise drones, docks and payloads.
- Purchase
- Public quote page
- 10 jobs
- Oct 25, 2026
Parrot
🇫🇷 FR Serves global
French drone maker (ANAFI).
- Purchase
- Public quote page
- 2 jobs
- Oct 25, 2026
Teledyne FLIR
🇺🇸 US Serves global
US thermal imaging and unmanned systems maker (PackBot, Black Hornet).
- Purchase
- 4 jobs
- Oct 25, 2026
Show all 11 providers
Auterion
🇨🇭 CH Serves global
Swiss/US drone operating system company.
- Purchase
- Public quote page
- 2 jobs
- Oct 25, 2026
Teal Drones (Red Cat)
🇺🇸 US Serves US
US drone maker for public safety and defense.
- Purchase
- Public quote page
- 2 jobs
- Oct 25, 2026
Autel Robotics
🇨🇳 CN Serves global
Chinese drone maker.
- Purchase
- Public quote page
- 3 jobs
- Oct 25, 2026
XTEND
🇮🇱 IL Serves global
Israeli human-guided tactical drone maker.
- Purchase
- Public quote page
- 2 jobs
- Oct 25, 2026
Horus Dynamics
🇮🇹 IT Serves IT
Italian professional drone services company offering search and rescue with thermal inspection and its own thermal tracking software to locate…
- Service
- 1 job
- Oct 25, 2026
Questions buyers ask
How much does search and rescue cost?
Published prices for search and rescue run from $6,899 per unit (1 price from 1 source, United States; newest dated Oct 25, 2026). Every receipt is below.
Who offers search and rescue near me?
We list 11 providers for search and rescue. 4 countries have at least one provider whose own site says it works there; the most covered are United States (3), Canada (1) and India (1). 8 providers say they work worldwide. Pick your country on this page to see who serves it, local first.
What should I put in a quote request?
Start with team size and pilots to equip or train; thermal, spotlight, speaker or payload drop needed; agency or organization. The full checklist has 8 items, and a request that covers them gets a real price instead of "it depends".
Do I actually need a robot for this?
Not always. If a competent person with a ladder could do it in an afternoon, hire the person (the Ladder Test). Here's the catch for this job: Grants (e.g., DHS, FEMA) often fund public-safety robots.
Are there rules or permits?
Public safety drone programs need COA/Part 107 (US) or equivalent; demining follows IMAS standards; hazmat robots may need ATEX certification. More on rules (a summary, not legal advice).
Cite this page
Whirrwork. "Search and rescue: cost, how it works & providers." Last updated 2026-10-25. https://whirrwork.com/use-cases/search-and-rescue-drone/. CC BY 4.0.
BibTeX
@misc{whirrwork_search_and_rescue_drone,
title = {Search and rescue: cost, how it works \& providers},
author = {{Whirrwork}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://whirrwork.com/use-cases/search-and-rescue-drone/},
note = {Last updated 2026-10-25. CC BY 4.0. Prices link to their original sources.}
}Quoting a price? Cite its original source too (linked in the table). We're the index, not the origin. Add the date you read this page.
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