M-346 Leads Baykar UCAV in Autonomous Formation Flight

Italy's Leonardo and Turkish group Baykar have performed a series of what the former terms “joint autonomous formation flights” as part of the K-Swarm program, aimed at designing and developing interoperability between crewed and uncrewed aircraft. The recent formation trial alongside a crewed aircraft built on a December 2025 milestone that saw two Kizilelma drones perform an autonomous close formation flight.

As part of the first round of testing, conducted in Turkey in May, Baykar’s Kizilelma unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV) flew alongside a Leonardo M-346 advanced jet trainer. After an autonomous taxi and takeoff, the Kizilelma “autonomously rejoined the M-346 using Smart Fleet Autonomy algorithms developed by Baykar’s hardware-in-the-loop laboratory, enabling the M346 to subsequently assume full control of the unmanned aircraft,” explained Leonardo.

Baykar-developed ‘Smart Fleet Autonomy’ algorithms instructed the drone to autonomously rejoin the main aircraft. A newly-developed fully integrated onboard avionics suite onboard the M346 allowed the pilot to command the drone, executing manoeuvres, formations, position changes and rejoins. An advanced radio frequency data exchange system allowed for the synchronization of data between the systems, protected by Leonardo’s proprietary cyber-defence system GCC Tactical Platform.

The aerial campaign marks the transition from simulation to live operations, said Leonardo, which has been developing the relevant algorithms, tactics and procedures at its base in Turin. This was supplemented by simulator testing. Baykar has also been working on integrating its smart fleet autonomy capabilities into the Crewed UnCrewed Teaming (CUC-T) algorithms.

According to Leonardo “today’s design of CUC-T is one of the fundamental strands for the transformation of military and security tools.” The company said that collaborative combat teaming “has increasingly become a key enabler of future combat air systems.”

Next, partners plan to move into more complex operations requiring greater situational awareness, with new tests planned in the coming months. Baykar has moved closer to Italy's aerospace sector through its recent acquisition of Genoa-based Piaggio Aerospace.