Mongolia crowns drone racing champions, selects teams for international stage

DRONECON 2026 turned Buyant-Ukhaa International Airport into a showcase for how far Mongolia’s drone sports pipeline has spread beyond a single race class. Across five categories, from Commercial Drone Racing and the 5-inch Open Class to Tiny Whoop, Drone Soccer, and Coding and AI, the national championship selected the athletes and teams most likely to carry Mongolia into the next round of international competition.

The event, held May 9-10 in Ulaanbaatar, sat inside a broader DRONECON 2026 program that also includes an international championship and BU Airshow. Official materials present the meet as a presidential-name championship tied to President Ukhnaagiin Khurelsukh, and say it was built for Mongolia’s young engineers, students, clubs, teams and pilots. More than 20 organizations supported the effort, including the President’s Office of Mongolia, several ministries, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Mongolia, the Air Force Command of the Armed Forces of Mongolia, the General Authority for Emergency Management, the Civil Aviation Authority of Mongolia and a network of Mongolian drone and FPV groups.

In Commercial Drone Racing, B. Erdenebat took first place, M. Otgonbaatar finished second and Ts. Tsolmon placed third. A. Bayarbat also received a special placement, underscoring how deep the field ran beyond the top three.

The smaller classes carried their own weight. O. Erdemtulga won the Tiny Whoop 65mm category, with B. Altanturuu second and U. Sodbilg third. In the 5-inch Open Class, B. Altanturuu came out on top, H. Otgon finished second and O. Erdemtulga was third, while T. Tuvshinbayar earned a special mention. The overlap of names across multiple divisions showed a compact but versatile talent pool, with pilots moving between micro and open-frame racing at the same championship.

Drone Soccer added a different kind of pressure, with team results led by MGL FPV, followed by ZH HQ #2 and the first team from the Military University of Mongolia. Darkhan-Uul 2 also received special recognition. That matters beyond Mongolia’s borders: the Federation of International Dronesoccer Association says the sport was commercialized in 2017, the federation was established in 2022 and it now has 24 member countries. The Fédération Aéronautique Internationale says its 2026 Drone Soccer International Series is designed to establish a world ranking per nation, which makes DRONECON’s selections more than domestic trophies.

The Coding and AI brackets, split between ages 6-12 and 13-18, extended the same logic into software and autonomy. B. Jargalan and T. Gentergel were among the names singled out, giving the championship a clear identity as more than stick-and-throttle competition. For Mongolia, the weekend at Buyant-Ukhaa suggested a system taking shape, one that can train pilots, programmers and team competitors at once and send them into international play with real depth behind them.