How Baykar and TAI Are Outpacing the West in Autonomous Air Combat Teaming
With live crewed-uncrewed flight trials, world-first autonomous BVR kills, and a trans-national production architecture anchored to GCAP, Ankara has moved from drone exporter to architect of the next generation of air warfare.
Bottom Line Up Front
Türkiye has executed a rapid and verifiable series of collaborative combat aircraft (CCA) milestones that place it ahead of most Western programs in converting autonomous teaming from concept to live operational demonstration. Baykar's KIZILELMA unmanned fighter became the world's first autonomous jet-powered aircraft to destroy an aerial target with a beyond-visual-range missile (November 2025) and the first to conduct fully autonomous close formation flight with a second armed jet (December 2025). The subsequent K-SWARM live trials in May 2026 showed an Italian M-346 acting as an airborne command node for KIZILELMA, validating a deployable crewed-uncrewed architecture now linked to GCAP development. Simultaneously, TAI's ANKA-3 stealth UCAV completed critical design review and is entering serial production for a Turkish Air Force order expected to exceed 50 aircraft, while Aselsan has activated an Indigenous Flight Datalink (IVDL) connecting the TF KAAN fifth-generation fighter to both KIZILELMA and ANKA-3. Together, these programs constitute an integrated autonomous combat air ecosystem — not a collection of demonstrators — backed by a NATO-connected European production infrastructure through the Leonardo-Baykar LBA Systems joint venture. The pace and breadth of this effort materially challenges US, European, and Chinese assumptions about which nations will shape the doctrine and industrial architecture of autonomous air combat in the 2030s.
On June 22, 2026, Leonardo and Baykar announced the successful completion of the first live K-SWARM trials, confirming that an Italian M-346 jet had commanded and coordinated Baykar's KIZILELMA unmanned fighter through autonomous formation changes, separations, and rejoins over Baykar's Çorlu flight center in Türkiye during May. The announcement distilled months of largely quiet but operationally significant progress into a single headline. Yet the K-SWARM result is better understood not as a breakthrough event but as the latest data point in a deliberate, multi-year Turkish program to build a complete autonomous combat air ecosystem — one that now spans two sovereign defense companies, a newly activated NATO-adjacent production venture, and connections to the highest-profile sixth-generation fighter program in Europe.
The K-SWARM Trials: From Simulator to Sky
The K-SWARM program paired Leonardo's M-346 Fighter Attack variant — configured with a newly integrated onboard avionics suite and a dedicated crewed-uncrewed computing system — with Baykar's KIZILELMA unmanned combat air vehicle. An Italian Air Force T-346A flew as a chase aircraft, applying disciplined flight-test methodology to the complex mixed formation. Following KIZILELMA's autonomous taxi and takeoff, the unmanned fighter rejoined the M-346 in flight using Baykar's Smart Fleet Autonomy algorithms, developed and validated through the company's Hardware-in-the-Loop laboratory at Çorlu before the live phase began.
Once the formation stabilized, the M-346 assumed full command authority. Pilots directed formation changes, separations, and rejoins; KIZILELMA executed each maneuver autonomously and with accurate command response. Critically, the architecture employed supervised autonomy rather than remote piloting: the crewed aircraft retained tactical authority, while the unmanned platform handled complex flight tasks without imposing excessive cockpit workload on the pilot. An advanced radio-frequency data exchange system synchronized mission data between the platforms, protected in real time by Leonardo's GCC Tactical Platform cyber-defense architecture.
Leonardo's preparatory engineering chain was substantial. The company's Avionic and Flight Control Innovation Labs and its PC2LAB product and concept laboratory in Turin developed, modeled, and refined the CUC-T (Crewed/UnCrewed Teaming) algorithms and tactics before the live phase began, linked to an M-346 Full Mission Simulator in Venegono. The result was a validated digital thread from software laboratory to live flight — a process compressed to months rather than years by Baykar's mature autonomy infrastructure and KIZILELMA's advanced onboard AI capabilities.
KIZILELMA: A Fighter-Class Platform, Not a Converted Drone
Understanding why K-SWARM matters requires understanding what KIZILELMA is. Baykar's unmanned fighter is not a surveillance drone with weapons tacked on. The aircraft is a single-engine, low-observable, carrier-capable, jet-powered multirole UCAV with an 8.5-ton maximum takeoff weight, a 1.5-ton payload capacity, a cruise speed of Mach 0.6, and a combat radius of approximately 500 nautical miles. Its canard-delta configuration with internal weapons bays provides both maneuverability and low-observable strike capability. The third production prototype, featuring afterburning propulsion, aerodynamic refinements, and an updated avionics architecture, completed its first flight in September 2024. Mass production began in October 2024, with Baykar Chairman Selçuk Bayraktar stating an objective of more than ten aircraft by 2026.
The platform's combat credibility rests on a dense 2025 test record. On November 20, 2025, KIZILELMA electronically engaged and simulated the destruction of a Turkish Air Force F-16 using its MURAD AESA radar in conjunction with a Gökdoğan beyond-visual-range missile digital kill chain — the first time such a sequence was validated on an unmanned platform. Ten days later, on November 30, Baykar announced that KIZILELMA had executed what the company described as the world's first live autonomous BVR air-to-air kill, destroying a high-speed jet-powered target drone over the Black Sea near Sinop with a Gökdoğan missile guided by MURAD radar — a verified engagement, not a simulation. On December 28, 2025, two KIZILELMA aircraft accomplished the world's first fully autonomous close formation flight by a pair of armed, jet-powered unmanned aircraft, relying entirely on artificial intelligence, onboard sensors, and instantaneous data exchange between airframes.
In May 2026, Baykar signed the first KIZILELMA export agreement, with Indonesian company PT Republik Aero Dirgantara committing to an initial batch of 12 aircraft with options extending to 60, plus local production and maintenance facilities — a signal that international confidence in the platform has reached contract-award level.
ANKA-3: The TAI Stealth Wingman
While KIZILELMA has received the most international attention, the second pillar of Türkiye's autonomous combat air architecture is Turkish Aerospace Industries' ANKA-3 stealth UCAV. The flying-wing platform — 7.9 meters long with a 12.5-meter wingspan and a maximum takeoff weight of 6,500 kilograms — is designed for high-subsonic operations at up to 40,000 feet with approximately ten hours of endurance and a 1,600-kilogram payload. Its configuration with two internal weapon bays enables low-observable strike carriage distinct from the older ANKA family's external-stores approach.
ANKA-3's milestones in the fifteen months preceding this article's publication bracket the trajectory of the program. In October 2024, ANKA-3 became the first drone in history to be controlled by another aircraft in a loyal wingman role, a capability demonstration that preceded K-SWARM by more than a year and used a different crewed-uncrewed architecture. In January 2025, ANKA-3 completed the first internal release of a guided glide bomb — a Tolun small diameter weapon dropped from 20,000 feet at 180 knots — proving low-observable strike capability. In March 2025, the aircraft launched from Mürted Air Base, traveled to the Açıkır Test Range with ANKA providing target designation, and released an Aselsan LGK-82 laser-guided weapon from 10 kilometers at 25,000 feet and 200 knots. In December 2025, ANKA-3's 46th sortie validated critical autopilot and autonomous flight envelope tests, closing the basic flight-control validation phase and opening the door to more demanding autonomous mission profiles.
TAI CEO Mehmet Demiroglu confirmed at SAHA Istanbul 2026 that ANKA-3 has completed its critical design review with the production configuration frozen, and that the Turkish Air Force is expected to order more than 50 aircraft in 2026. At the World Defense Show 2026 in February, TAI unveiled a manned-unmanned teaming concept demonstration integrating the TF KAAN fighter with two ANKA-3 drones in a coordinated takeoff, formation maneuvering, and simulated strike sequence — the clearest public statement yet of Türkiye's intent to field a complete CCA ecosystem around its indigenous fifth-generation fighter. TAI stated that the communication, firing, and guidance links between KAAN and ANKA-3 will be operational before KAAN enters Turkish Air Force service.
Aselsan's IVDL: The Digital Spine
Platform capability is a necessary but not sufficient condition for operational CCA. What distinguishes a coherent autonomous air combat architecture from a collection of impressive demonstrators is the command-and-control fabric connecting them. In June 2025, Aselsan CEO Ahmet Akyol confirmed the activation of Türkiye's Indigenous Flight Datalink (IVDL), a wide-bandwidth, high-throughput, electronic-warfare-resistant datalink enabling real-time communication between the TF KAAN fifth-generation fighter and both KIZILELMA and ANKA-3. The IVDL allows KAAN to function not only as a frontline fighter but as an airborne command-and-control node orchestrating multiple unmanned combat assets simultaneously.
In the intended operational architecture, KAAN would direct KIZILELMA and ANKA-3 to conduct suppression of enemy air defenses, electronic attack, and deep-strike missions while remaining at a survivable standoff distance. KIZILELMA — higher speed and more agile — serves as the close-in air combat and strike teammate; ANKA-3 — lower observable and longer-endurance — handles reconnaissance, electronic warfare, and internal-bay precision strike in contested airspace. Complementing the IVDL are low-observable sensor additions to KAAN itself: Aselsan's TOYGUN electro-optical suite and passive KARAT IRST sensor, which reduce KAAN's RF emissions and extend its survivability in advanced integrated air defense environments.
The GCAP Connection: From Ankara to Rome to London
The industrial architecture surrounding Türkiye's CCA programs extends well beyond national borders. At the 2025 Paris Air Show, Leonardo CEO Roberto Cingolani made explicit the link between KIZILELMA and the Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP), the trilateral sixth-generation fighter initiative among Italy, the United Kingdom, and Japan. Cingolani stated that Italy was evaluating KIZILELMA alongside unmanned variants of the M-345 and M-346 as candidate loyal wingman platforms for GCAP, and described the M-346/KIZILELMA combination as a "near-term, exportable teaming model built around existing aircraft rather than waiting for sixth-generation platforms."
The formal industrial vehicle for this integration is LBA Systems, a 50-50 joint venture between Leonardo and Baykar formally launched at the Paris Air Show in June 2025. The venture assigns specific production roles to Italian facilities: Leonardo's Grottaglie plant — currently a composite fuselage manufacturer for the Boeing 787 — will undertake composite manufacturing and final assembly of KIZILELMA. The Ronchi dei Legionari facility will handle TB3 naval-variant final assembly with sensor integration. The former Piaggio Aerospace facility at Villanova d'Albenga, which Baykar acquired by the end of 2024, will assemble TB2 and Akinci platforms. Turin concentrates engineering and European airworthiness certification. Rome hosts a multi-domain innovation center focused on command-and-control, ISR networking, autonomy, and data links.
Under the LBA model — summarized by Leonardo as "Baykar's platforms, Leonardo's systems" — Italian industrial content on KIZILELMA includes LEOSS-T electro-optical payloads, BriteStorm compact EW systems, Osprey AESA radars, Skyward IRST sensors, and European-standard data links. The K-SWARM trials demonstrated a proof of concept for this integration architecture at the system level, validating that Leonardo's avionics, cyber defense, and mission computing can function as the CUC-T command layer above Baykar's Smart Fleet Autonomy substrate. This division of labor — European certification, sensor integration, and command-layer software on top of Turkish autonomous airframe capability — could emerge as a replicable model for other European nations seeking CCA capability below the cost and schedule threshold of a clean-sheet program.
Comparative Context: Where Others Stand
The pace of Turkish CCA development stands in contrast to the timeline pressures facing other programs. The U.S. Air Force's Collaborative Combat Aircraft Increment 1 program, having down-selected to General Atomics' YFQ-42A Gambit and Anduril's YFQ-44A Fury in April 2024, completed first flights of both prototype aircraft in August and October 2025, respectively. Both are now in developmental trials at Nellis Air Force Base. A production downselect is planned for 2026, with Increment 2 awards expected in early fiscal year 2026 targeting additional capability — improved stealth, sensors, and integration with B-21 and E-7 platforms. The USAF plans to spend more than $8.9 billion on CCA programs from fiscal 2025 through 2029, with an initial operational capability goal of approximately 2030. The Netherlands signed a letter of intent for CCA participation at the end of 2025 and ordered its first two aircraft in April 2026, marking the first allied purchase. The U.S. Marine Corps separately selected Northrop Grumman and Kratos in January 2026 to develop its first operational CCA, transitioning the XQ-58 Valkyrie from testbed to operational wingman.
Australia's Boeing MQ-28A Ghost Bat program, funded to AUD 4 billion (approximately USD 2.6 billion) in April 2024, has demonstrated controlled flight and interoperability with the E-7A Wedgetail — a single E-7A operator controlling two in-flight Ghost Bats alongside a third digital Ghost Bat — but has not yet demonstrated live autonomous BVR weapons employment or crewed-uncrewed formation control of the sophistication shown in K-SWARM. China publicly revealed four new CCA prototypes at its September 3, 2025 Victory Day parade, including two fighter-size designs apparently powered by WS-10 or WS-15 class turbofans, but their operational autonomy levels remain unknown to outside observers. Russia's Sukhoi S-70 Okhotnik and Kronshtadt Grom programs continue in some form, but the depth of their autonomy integration has not been publicly demonstrated at the level of the Turkish milestones.
The United Kingdom's Autonomy Contributory Platform program has fielded its first demonstrator, StormShroud, with an initial order of 24 platforms entering service in May 2025 to develop teaming and Combat Cloud integration. A Tranche 2 tender is expected in spring 2026, with contract award between 2027 and 2029. France and Germany continue development under the Future Combat Air System program, while Japan's loyal wingman drone program for the F-X fighter remains at early funding stages. In this global context, Türkiye's combination of live BVR weapons demonstration, autonomous formation flight, crewed-uncrewed command validation, and series production commitment — all achieved within an eighteen-month window — represents a tempo that most programs have not matched at the operational demonstration level.
Risks, Constraints, and Open Questions
Türkiye's CCA advances carry significant industrial and strategic dependencies that independent analysts note as material risks. ANKA-3's current production configuration is powered by a Ukrainian Ivchenko-Progress AI-322 turbofan engine, a supply chain complicated — though not yet broken — by the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. TAI CEO Demiroglu stated at SAHA Istanbul that Ukraine has continued to produce and deliver engines under wartime conditions, and identified the domestically developed TEI TF6000 turbofan as a contingency alternative, with a larger variant possible if needed. The eventual twin-engine, domestically powered ANKA-3 variant designed for supersonic performance alongside KAAN remains at the concept phase; the current priority is completing the single-engine configuration. KIZILELMA faces a parallel propulsion question: Baykar has announced a domestic propulsion development effort in part to reduce dependence on subcontractors unable to match production rate demands, but the timeline for domestically powered KIZILELMA variants has not been publicly confirmed.
TF KAAN itself — the intended apex crewed node for the Turkish CCA architecture — is still maturing. Three flight prototypes are in various stages of ground and airborne testing as of mid-2026, with production aircraft deliveries expected by 2028 to 2029. An indigenous engine program, based on TEI's TF-TEN/TF10000, is in early testing. Until KAAN enters service with the IVDL-linked architecture that Aselsan has described, the full autonomous air combat ecosystem exists in validated segments rather than as an integrated operational force. The ANKA-3 June 2025 prototype crash during the Anatolian Eagle exercise also serves as a reminder that flight-test campaigns for complex autonomy-enabled aircraft carry inherent risk, even as the program's overall trajectory has been strongly positive.
Beyond platform maturity, the doctrinal and regulatory dimensions of autonomous air combat remain contested across all programs. What level of human supervision is required for lethal autonomous engagement decisions — the rules of engagement, certification standards, and liability frameworks — will shape how quickly any of these systems can transition from demonstrations to operational deployment. Turkey's supervised-autonomy approach in K-SWARM, which explicitly preserves human tactical authority over lethal decisions, appears designed in part to pre-empt this challenge.
Strategic Implications
The broader significance of Türkiye's CCA surge extends beyond platform performance. Ankara has used its drone program as an instrument of strategic autonomy — reducing dependence on Western weapons suppliers, generating substantial export revenues, and building industrial leverage with NATO allies — since the TB2's combat debut in Libya and Nagorno-Karabakh. The CCA programs represent an escalation of that strategy into the highest tier of airpower technology, at a moment when Türkiye's relationship with the F-35 program remains severed following its 2019 S-400 purchase from Russia.
The LBA Systems architecture is particularly notable in this context. By embedding KIZILELMA production inside Italy's aerospace industrial base, coupling it to European airworthiness certification, and linking it to GCAP development data, Baykar and Leonardo have created a pathway through which a Turkish-origin UCAV could eventually serve as a loyal wingman for a sixth-generation fighter operated by NATO allies who have no political relationship with Ankara sufficient to justify a bilateral arms purchase. Italy provides the NATO wrapper; Baykar provides the unmanned platform; GCAP provides the operational requirement. Whether KIZILELMA ultimately enters GCAP's CCA selection — a decision not yet made — is secondary to the fact that the industrial and technical foundations for that possibility are now being actively constructed.
For air force planners in Europe, Southeast Asia, and the Gulf, the implication is straightforward: Türkiye's autonomous combat air ecosystem is no longer a future program to be monitored. It is an extant, operationally demonstrable capability being actively exported, industrially embedded in NATO-aligned production networks, and linked to the most significant sixth-generation fighter program outside the United States. The K-SWARM trials are not an endpoint; they are the first public proof of a command architecture that Leonardo has already described as a foundation for future GCAP combat air operations. The next phase of trials, expected to introduce multi-aircraft coordination, sensor tasking, target handoff, and dynamic mission replanning, will determine how rapidly that architecture can evolve from formation control to genuine mission-level autonomy.
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