Turkey’s ‘Fighter Drone’ Teamed With M-346 Fighter-Trainer In Autonomy Trials
K-SWARM, the joint Leonardo-Baykar program developing crewed/uncrewed teaming, completed its first live flight trials in May at Baykar's Çorlu test centre. A Leonardo-owned M-346 Fighter Attack variant served as the command platform, a Bayraktar Kizilelma uncrewed combat aircraft as the wingman, and an Italian Air Force T-346A as chase. The Kizilelma conducted an autonomous taxi, takeoff, and rejoin using Baykar's Smart Fleet Autonomy software, then accepted command from the M-346 cockpit and executed pilot-directed position changes, separations, and rejoins via a newly developed avionics suite. The platforms shared data over an advanced radio-frequency link secured by Leonardo's GCC Tactical Platform, which provided real-time command, control, and cybersecurity for the formation.
The Read: Crewed-uncrewed teaming has become the central enabler for next-generation combat air systems, and the K-SWARM trials put Turkey and Italy among a small group flight-testing this capability in production-class hardware alongside the US YFQ-42A and YFQ-44A. The pairing matters because of what it works around: the M-346 is a light combat-trainer already in service with several air forces, and the Kizilelma is a jet-powered, low-observable UCAV designed for short runways and eventual TCG Anadolu amphibious assault ship operations, free of US export restrictions. That gives Leonardo and Baykar a route to mature crewed-uncrewed teaming software on affordable platforms before scaling to higher-end fighters, an industrial answer to the slow collapse of FCAS and the uncertain trajectory of MGCS. The next harder step, swarm-class coordination of multiple Kizilelma-style aircraft under a single crewed mission lead.
\\ TWZ
The Bayraktar Kizilelma during K-SWARM live flight trials \\ Source: Baykar
\\ Signal Watch
DARPA’s X-65 Active Flow Control Demonstrator is Taking Shape \\ The Aviationist
Aurora Flight Sciences installed the wings on DARPA's X-65 demonstrator on June 23, putting the prototype on track for a first flight in 2027 under the agency's CRANE (Control of Revolutionary Aircraft with Novel Effectors) program. The aircraft is designed to maneuver using bursts of pressurized air from 14 active flow control effectors across its flying surfaces, with traditional flaps and rudders included so the program can selectively lock them down to isolate AFC performance. The 9.1 m (30 ft) wingspan, 3,175 kg (7,000 lb) airframe uses a Co-Planar Joined Wing planform with twin vertical tails and a chin intake. Eliminating moving control surfaces is most consequential for stealth designs, where seams and constant fly-by-wire motion complicate radar cross-section management, and DARPA's roughly $63 million investment since FY24 reflects a bet on AFC as a building block for future low-observable platforms.
Screenshot of the Aurora X-65 \\ Source: Aurora Flight Sciences
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