Over the past few years, the proliferation of resource-constrained devices and the looming of Internet-of-Things (IoT) for UAV applications have accentuated the need for lightweight cryptographic (LWC) algorithms. These algorithms are designed to be more suitable for UAV application-based IoT devices as they are efficient in terms of memory usage, computation, utilization of power, etc. Based on the literature study, the algorithms mostly suitable for the UAV application-based resource-constrained devices are identified in this paper. This list also includes ASCON cipher, winner of the NIST’s lightweight cryptography standardization contest. Furthermore, these algorithms have been implemented on a UAV application-based Raspberry Pi 3 Model B to analyze their hardware and software performance w.r.t the essential metrics, such as latency, power consumption, throughput, and energy consumption for different payloads. From the experimental results, it has been observed that the SPECK is optimized for software implementations and may offer better performance in certain scenarios, especially on UAV application-based resource-constrained devices. ASCON, on the other hand, provides both encryption and authentication in a single pass, potentially reducing latency and overhead. This paper aims to assist researchers in pinpointing the most appropriate LWC algorithm tailored to specific scenarios and requirements.