MVO-based path planning scheme with coordination of UAVs in 3-D environment

•MVO-based path planning scheme with coordination of UAVs in 3-D environment.•Optimal path is obtained using applied MVO and results are compared with GSO and BBO.•MVO is faster in convergence than GSO and better in finding minima than BBO. So more suitable for 3D path planning as both accurate and faster.•For multiple UAVs coordination of UAVs can considerably reduce the total cost of optimized path.•Munkres algorithm is used for coordination of UAVs in polynomial time complexity.