A collapsible unmanned aerial vehicle has: a cylindrical structural body; a plurality of deployable mechanisms laterally distributed about the cylindrical structural body; a control unit; a portable power source; each of the plurality of deployable mechanisms comprising a lift-generating device, a pliable pylon and an actuation mechanism, the cylindrical structural body being terminally mounted to the pliable pylon, the lift-generating device being terminally mounted to the pliable pylon, the actuation mechanism being operatively integrated along the pliable pylon, the pliable pylon being selectively configured to be radially straightened from the cylindrical structural body and to arcuately collapsed into the cylindrical structural body via the actuation mechanism, the control unit and the portable power source each being electrically connected to the actuation mechanism; the control unit and the portable power source being mounted within the cylindrical structural body; and the portable power source being electrically connected to the control unit.