Turkey and Italy have carried out a breakthrough trial in which a manned fighter jet controlled an autonomous drone swarm in flight, a step that could change air combat and poses a major challenge for Israel in both attack and defense. The test marks a shift from computer simulations to live operations, and only a handful of countries have reached this stage.
According to Israel Defense, Turkish drone maker BAYKAR and Italy’s Leonardo recently conducted the test under the K-SWARM program. The trials began in the past two months and were held at BAYKAR’s flight center in Çorlu, Turkey. During the experiment, the Turkish combat drone Kizilelma took off fully autonomously and then joined a formation with an Italian M-346 aircraft.
Using “smart swarm autonomy” algorithms, the two pilots in the Italian jet were able to take full control of the unmanned aircraft through an advanced command-and-control system. They directed every maneuver, including changing position within the formation, separating, and rejoining. The drone itself carried out the actions autonomously once it received the pilots’ commands. Data links during the test were protected by Leonardo cyber technology to prevent enemy interception or disruption.
The goal of the program is for every fighter pilot in the future to fly with a swarm of autonomous drone escorts that can collect real-time intelligence, jam enemy radar, and launch munitions while reducing risk to the pilot and increasing strike power. Turkey is also accelerating its multi-layered “Steel Dome” air defense project, with about $900 million allocated for advanced interception technologies. BAYKAR and Leonardo plan more complex tests in the coming months, involving multiple aircraft at once.
