Abstract Given the observed developments of novel communication modes and the establishment of next‐generation cellular networks, mobility modelling and ad hoc routing requirements have emerged. Flying ad hoc networks are key pivots in enabling technological leaps in the domain of on‐demand communications, especially in emergency scenarios; as such, resorting to application‐ and mobility‐aware routing is a promising enabler of this emerging set of use cases. This article investigates swarm mobility modelling, and applicable routing protocols, conducting comparative analysis that leads to the introduction of the new Anchored Self‐Similar 3D Gauss‐Markov Mobility Model (ASSGM‐3D), which incorporates a novel set of spatio‐temporal statistical metrics.
