Baykar Bayraktar KIZILELMA unmanned combat aircraft achieved a historical milestone by performing, for the first time in the world, a fully autonomous coordinated flight between two unmanned combat aircraft, without human intervention.
This achievement confirms Türkiye’s progress in the development of the latest generation of air combat systems.
Developed entirely with domestic resources, the Bayraktar KIZILELMA—the country’s first unmanned combat aircraft—continues to record breakthroughs in world aviation history. About a month ago, this model made history by becoming the world’s first unmanned fighter aircraft to shoot down an aerial target, by launching a beyond-visual-range (BVR) air-to-air missile guided by its internal AESA radar.
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Coordinated flight without human intervention
In the latest tests, the KIZILELMA PT3 and PT5 prototypes took off sequentially and carried out short-range formation flights under the control of advanced fleet autonomy algorithms developed by Baykar. During the mission, the aircraft adjusts its relative position autonomously, maintains formation and flight integrity, and truly demonstrates coordination capabilities between unmanned platforms.
According to the company, this was the first time in the history of military aviation that two unmanned combat aircraft performed a fully coordinated flight, operating as one air formation without direct supervision from human pilots.
Combat Air Patrol (CAP) is also validated
In addition to formation flights, these trials also included the successful execution of Combat Air Patrol (CAP) missions—one of the main pillars of modern air combat. At this stage, the prototype follows a predetermined route, carrying out air defense missions with exclusive support from the fleet’s autonomy software.
The demonstration confirmed that tasks traditionally performed by manned combat aircraft—such as continuous air surveillance, protection of sensitive areas, and response to threats—can be shifted to a fleet of unmanned combat aircraft operating autonomously.
Towards the future of air combat
Throughout the testing process, the aircraft’s joint operations capabilities, tactical coordination and autonomous decision-making were closely monitored. According to Baykar, KIZILELMA’s intelligent fleet autonomy infrastructure paves the way for complex air operations involving multiple unmanned platforms operating in an integrated manner.
These advances are seen as a turning point for military aviation, showing that in addition to cooperation between manned and unmanned aircraft, future fleets of fully autonomous combat aircraft could play a central role on the air battlefield.
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Source and image: X @SavunmaSanayiST. This content was created with the help of AI and has been reviewed by the editorial team.
