Overview
- Leonardo and Baykar announced on Monday that May flights at Baykar’s Çorlu test centre moved K‑SWARM from simulation into live operations by pairing two M‑346 jets with a single KIZILELMA prototype.
- During the sorties the KIZILELMA autonomously taxied, took off and used Baykar’s Smart Fleet Autonomy to rejoin an M‑346 before the M‑346 crew assumed command to direct formation maneuvers.
- A radio‑frequency data exchange kept the platforms synchronised and was protected by Leonardo’s GCC Tactical Platform, providing real‑time monitoring and cyber‑defence for the link.
- The companies describe this as the first phase of a staged campaign that will increase asset numbers, raise onboard autonomy and test more complex mission‑level behaviours in the coming months.
- The trials fold KIZILELMA into the Leonardo–Baykar industrial partnership and give Europe a quicker path to crewed‑uncrewed teaming on in‑service jets, a development that could shape NATO and European combat‑air planning and pilot workload in future operations.