Turkey’s ‘Fighter Drone’ Teamed With M-346 Fighter-Trainer In Autonomy Trials
Summary
Turkish defense company Baykar and Italian aerospace firm Leonardo have successfully completed the first live phase of their K-SWARM program, which demonstrated coordinated operations between the Kizilelma unmanned combat air vehicle (UCAV) and Leonardo's M-346 fighter-trainer aircraft at Baykar's flight test center in Çorlu, Turkey. During the trials, the Kizilelma autonomously completed taxi, takeoff, and formation joining procedures before being handed over to the two-person M-346 crew, who then commanded the drone through various maneuvers including formation changes, separations, and rejoins using a newly developed integrated avionics suite. The program, which leverages Baykar's Smart Fleet Autonomy algorithms developed in their Hardware-in-the-Loop Laboratory, was preceded by extensive simulation-based testing in Italy to validate algorithms and tactical procedures before moving to live flight trials. The Kizilelma itself has already demonstrated significant milestones, including being the first UCAV to launch a radar-guided air-to-air missile, and is ultimately envisioned as a drone companion to Turkey's next-generation TF Kaan crewed fighter. Future K-SWARM trials are planned with increased complexity and autonomy, with the long-term goal of using AI to progressively shift the drone from remote piloting toward full autonomous mission execution while keeping human pilots in ultimate control.
Key Takeaways
- 1. Turkey has successfully conducted its first live crewed-uncrewed teaming trials, placing it among a very small group of nations — alongside the United States and China — pursuing this advanced air combat capability
- 2. The Kizilelma UCAV demonstrated full autonomous taxi, takeoff, and formation-joining capabilities before being handed off to M-346 pilots for command-and-control operations
- 3. Baykar's Smart Fleet Autonomy algorithms, developed through Hardware-in-the-Loop simulation, enabled the drone to execute complex maneuvers based solely on initial commands from crewed aircraft pilots
- 4. The Kizilelma has already achieved a historic first by launching a radar-guided air-to-air missile as a UCAV, establishing its credentials as a genuine combat-capable platform
- 5. Future K-SWARM trials will pursue greater levels of autonomy and situational awareness, with the ultimate aim of enabling AI-driven uncrewed systems to conduct increasingly complex missions under human oversight