I suggest you to see links and attached files on topic. As for the simulation software there is a choice, one solution is the use of simulation tools like OPNET, NetSim or ns2.
If we take an advance look at the five reference papers, the first reference use ns3 for simulation of 3 routing protocols, while second use ns2 with an extra library to 3D. reference 3 is just a survey and reference 4 not relevant. many notice about reference five, it assumes the height of UAV (3D) ,the lion of sight, and mobility model random way point. However, all of them not mention the guide to use ns3 in simulation of FANET.
Thanks, Muhammad Asghar Khan for the significant review paper. I think this paper is informative and useful for the researcher interested in the communicationthe system of Multi-UAV networks.
Since I didn't correctly get your question, I get it as: what the most popular research topics treated in UAV networks, that's why I mentioned those papers that summarize famous challenges.
But, of course, as you mentioned, recent papers are the right choice to get an idea about the new topics.
Hi, it may be useful to read this paper: Flying Ad-Hoc Networks (FANETs): A Review of Communication architectures, and Routing protocols (researchgate.net) published by Muhammad Asghar Khan et al.