Leonardo and Baykar have completed the first phase of live testing for their K-SWARM programme, with Italian M-346 jets and the Turkish-built Bayraktar KIZILELMA uncrewed fighter aircraft flying joint autonomous formations over Turkey, the companies stated.
The trials, conducted in May at one of Baykar’s flight and test centres in Çorlu, marked the transition of the K-SWARM effort from simulation to live operations. K-SWARM is aimed at designing and developing interoperability between crewed and uncrewed aircraft, an area that sits at the centre of current thinking on the future of combat air. The flight campaign involved two Leonardo M-346 airframes, a Leonardo-owned Fighter Attack variant alongside an Italian Air Force T-346A acting as chase aircraft, paired with the KIZILELMA uncrewed fighter.
According to the companies, the missions assessed and validated next-generation algorithms underpinning collaborative and coordinated operations between the platforms. After an autonomous taxi and take-off, the KIZILELMA used Smart Fleet Autonomy algorithms developed in Baykar’s Hardware-in-the-Loop Laboratory to autonomously rejoin the M-346, with the crewed aircraft then assuming full control of the drone. Using a newly developed onboard avionic suite, M-346 pilots commanded a series of formations, with the KIZILELMA executing position changes, separations and rejoins in response. An advanced radio frequency data exchange system kept the platforms synchronised, protected by Leonardo’s GCC Tactical Platform, the company’s proprietary cyber defence system providing real-time monitoring and command and control of the flight formations.
The companies described the work as a major milestone in the development of crewed and uncrewed teaming, which is widely treated across NATO and allied air forces as one of the central enablers of future combat air systems. The concept involves pairing manned fighters with one or more uncrewed wingmen capable of carrying sensors, weapons or electronic warfare payloads, with the crewed aircraft acting as the mission lead. Variants of the idea sit at the heart of the United States Air Force’s Collaborative Combat Aircraft programme, the United Kingdom’s work under the Global Combat Air Programme on adjuncts to the Tempest fighter, and France, Germany and Spain’s Future Combat Air System effort, alongside a growing number of national programmes outside the principal Western blocs.
The KIZILELMA platform is itself one of the more closely watched entrants in that field. Developed by Baykar, the firm best known internationally for its TB2 and Akıncı strike drones, KIZILELMA is being designed as a low-observable, jet-powered uncrewed combat aircraft capable of operating from short runways and, in later variants, from Turkey’s TCG Anadolu amphibious assault ship. Pairing it with the M-346, a Leonardo trainer and light combat aircraft already in service with several air forces and used as the platform for Italy’s International Flight Training School, gives both companies a route to mature crewed-uncrewed teaming concepts on relatively affordable platforms before scaling them to higher-end fighters.
Leonardo said the algorithms and tactics tested in Çorlu were developed at its Avionic and Flight Control Innovation Labs and at its product capability and concept laboratory, PC2LAB, in Turin, linked through to an M-346 Full Mission Simulator in Venegono. Baykar said its facilities had integrated advanced smart fleet autonomy capabilities into the crewed-uncrewed teaming algorithms, with KIZILELMA’s autonomy features simplifying the integration process.
