Leonardo and Baykar complete test flights for manned-unmanned teaming

BEIRUT — Italian defense firm Leonardo and Turkish Baykar have completed the first test flights for swarming capabilities of two M346 light attack manned aircraft with one Kizilema unmanned combat aircraft.

“Leonardo M-346 airplanes and Bayraktar KIZILELMA unmanned fighter aircraft have successfully performed a series of joint autonomous formation flights as part of the K-SWARM programme,” the two firms announced in a statement on Monday.

The recent flight is the first phase of live testing activities of swarming capabilities between the platforms and included a number of missions to assess the swarming algorithms between the aircraft, according to the statement.

“The programme is aimed at designing and developing interoperability between crewed and uncrewed aircraft,” per the companies’ statement. The testing was carried out in May at one of Baykar’s flight facilities in Corlu, Turkey, according to the statement.

The trials demonstrated the autonomous take off and landing of the Kizilelma aricraft, and during flight, the M346 was able to take full control of the unmanned aircraft. The next step of the K-SWARM program will include a larger number of assets, according to the release.

“An advanced radio frequency data exchange system allowed for the synchronization of all data shared between the M-346 and KIZILELMA platforms,” the statement added.

This test comes after Leonardo and Baykar established a joint venture in June 2025 to cooperate in developing unmanned systems.

Air forces around the globe are racing to augment next-gen fighter jets with unmanned, loyal wingmen aircraft, but the Turkish-Italian test ranks among the first to go airborne. In 2025, a pilot flying an F-22 was able to successfully control a General Atomics MQ-20 Avenger drone from the jet’s cockpit.