Leonardo, Baykar tout in-flight control of Kizilelma drone from a M-346 jet trainer

ROME — An Italian M-346 jet trainer has controlled a Baykar Kizilelma drone in flight during a loyal wingman trial in Turkey.

The Leonardo test jet flew alongside the Turkish drone at Baykar’s flight and test center in Çorlu, Leonardo said in a statement.

The flight followed the signing of a drone cooperation deal between Italy’s Leonardo and Baykar last year, which envisaged the construction in Italy of Baykar drones with Leonardo systems on board.

The flight test campaign in Turkey involved two Leonardo M-346 jets: a Leonardo owned M-346 Fighter Attack Variant, with an Italian Air Force trainer acting as chase aircraft - as well as the Kizilelma.

Following an autonomous taxi and take-off, the Kizilelma autonomously linked to the M-346 using “an advanced radio frequency data exchange system” to synchronize data, Leonardo said.

During the test flight, the two aircraft undertook a series of missions to test algorithms, tactics and procedures developed by Leonardo in Italy.

The M-346 has been sold to Singapore, Poland and Israel. (Leonardo)

“Kizilelma’s advanced autonomy capabilities greatly simplified the integration process, allowing for seamless implementation and rapid deployment,” Leonardo said.

“Leonardo and Baykar set a major milestone in the development of Crewed/UnCrewed Teaming (CUC-T) and swarm tactics capabilities,” the firm claimed.

“The refinement and maturity of AI technology, algorithms and collaborative procedures will enable the uncrewed systems to incrementally shift from remote piloting to autonomy, with the aim of reducing pilot workload and increasing mission efficiency while maintaining full control and decision-making,” it added.

“New tests are planned in the coming months, with increasing complexity and additional functions,” the firm added.

Baykar contributed Smart Fleet Autonomy capabilities integrated into the crewed/uncrewed teaming algorithms using its own software and hardware infrastructure.

As a partner on the GCAP fighter program, Leonardo will be seeking to sharpen its skills in deploying Loyal Wingman drones - an envisaged key aspect of GCAP operations.

Another ambitious European effort to integrate crewed fighters with collaborative uncrewed systems had been the Franco-German-Spanish FCAS program, which envisioned remote carrier loyal wingman drones operating alongside a next-generation manned fighter.

The FCAS Next Generation Fighter component was terminated in June 2026 after Germany and France failed to resolve industrial disagreements, although other FCAS elements such as a Combat Cloud are expected to continue.

Devrim Yaylali in Istanbul contributed to this report.

Tom Kington is the Italy correspondent for Defense News.

罗马——在土耳其进行的一次忠诚僚机试验中，一架意大利M-346喷气式教练机控制了一架Baykar Kizilelma无人机飞行。

莱昂纳多公司在一份声明中表示，莱昂纳多公司的测试飞机与土耳其无人机在位于乔尔卢的拜卡尔飞行测试中心进行了并排飞行。

此次飞行是在意大利莱昂纳多公司和Baykar公司去年签署无人机合作协议之后进行的，该协议设想在意大利建造搭载莱昂纳多系统的Baykar无人机。

在土耳其进行的飞行测试活动涉及两架莱昂纳多 M-346 喷气式飞机：一架莱昂纳多公司拥有的 M-346 战斗攻击型飞机，以及一架意大利空军教练机作为伴飞飞机——还有基济莱尔马飞机。

莱昂纳多公司表示，在完成自动滑行和起飞后，Kizilelma 无人机使用“先进的射频数据交换系统”与 M-346 无人机自动连接，以同步数据。

在试飞过程中，这两架飞机执行了一系列任务，以测试意大利莱昂纳多公司开发的算法、战术和程序。

M-346已售往新加坡、波兰和以色列。（莱昂纳多）

莱昂纳多表示：“Kizilelma 先进的自主功能大大简化了集成过程，实现了无缝实施和快速部署。”

该公司声称：“莱昂纳多和拜卡在有人/无人协同作战 (CUC-T) 和集群战术能力的发展方面树立了一个重要的里程碑。”

报告还指出：“人工智能技术、算法和协作程序的改进和成熟将使无人系统能够逐步从远程驾驶过渡到自主驾驶，目的是在保持完全控制和决策能力的同时，减轻飞行员的工作量并提高任务效率。”

该公司补充说：“未来几个月将推出新的测​​试，这些测试将更加复杂，功能也会增加。”

Baykar 利用其自身的软件和硬件基础设施，将智能车队自主功能集成到有人/无人驾驶团队算法中。

作为 GCAP 战斗机项目的合作伙伴，莱昂纳多公司将努力提高其部署“忠诚僚机”无人机的技能——这是 GCAP 行动中设想的关键方面。

欧洲另一项雄心勃勃的计划是法德西联合推出的FCAS计划，旨在将有人驾驶战斗机与协作无人系统相结合。该计划设想远程航母忠诚僚机无人机与下一代有人驾驶战斗机协同作战。

由于德国和法国未能解决工业分歧，FCAS 下一代战斗机项目于 2026 年 6 月终止，但其他 FCAS 组件（如作战云）预计将继续进行。

伊斯坦布尔的 Devrim Yaylali 对本报告做出了贡献。

汤姆·金顿是《防务新闻》驻意大利记者。