South Korea tests drone wingman concept with FA-50 light fighter

Korea Aerospace Industries has flown its FA-50 light combat aircraft in formation with a jet-powered drone for the first time, a test the company says is the first real manned-unmanned formation flight in South Korea.

The flight took place on Oct. 8 over the sea south of Goheung, in South Jeolla Province, KAI said on Oct. 12. The FA-50 and the company’s Adaptable Aerial Platform, or AAP, flew side by side for 20 minutes at about 2,100 meters (7,000 feet), holding a distance of 9 to 30 meters (30 to 100 feet) between them. They flew at 360 km/h (224 mph), a speed KAI chose for stability and safety. KAI did not say whether the drone was flying autonomously, under remote control or with input from the FA-50 pilot during the test.

The AAP is a small jet drone weighing about 150 kg (330 pounds), 3.1 meters (10 feet) long with a 2.2-meter (7-foot) wingspan, and a top speed of 790 km/h (490 mph), according to KAI. The company has developed it with its own money since 2024, and the drone first flew in October 2025. KAI is training it with an artificial intelligence pilot the company calls KAILOT.

KAI designed the AAP to fly ahead of crewed fighters into heavily defended areas and carry out reconnaissance, electronic jamming, decoy and strike missions. This kind of pairing, known as manned-unmanned teaming, lets a pilot send cheaper drones into the most dangerous part of a mission.

KAI said it will gradually raise the drone’s speed toward its maximum and widen its operating range. Next, it plans tests in which the FA-50 pilot controls the AAP’s mission in flight, and formation flights with several drones flown by the AI pilot. The company says the work will feed into a future South Korean unmanned combat aircraft.

KAI laid out a three-phase plan for the effort in 2024. The second phase, running from 2025 to 2028, is meant to end with a demonstration of an FA-50 controlling up to four drones at once. The third phase, through 2037, would move the technology to a two-seat version of the KF-21 fighter.

The FA-50 is a supersonic light fighter developed from KAI’s T-50 trainer. Beyond South Korea, it is flown or on order in Poland, the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, Iraq and Thailand, and KAI has said it hopes existing operators will add drone-teaming capabilities to their jets. KAI showed a scale model of an FA-50 flying with AAP drones at the World Defense Show in Riyadh in February.