World First: Two KIZILELMA drones fly in autonomous formation

WISE NEWS PRESS / CORLU, TÜRKİYE — DEC. 29, 2025

Baykar, the pioneer of the Turkish defense industry, has achieved a groundbreaking milestone in aviation history. For the first time globally, two prototypes of the Bayraktar KIZILELMA unmanned fighter jet performed a "close formation flight" completely autonomously, without any human intervention.

The historical test took place on December 28, 2025, at the AKINCI Flight Training and Test Center in Corlu. This success marks a new era where unmanned systems can operate as a synchronized fleet in complex combat environments.

Synchronized Flight Without Human Intervention

The most striking aspect of the test was the seamless coordination between the two unmanned aircraft. Utilizing the "smart fleet autonomy algorithms" developed by Baykar, the PT-3 and PT-5 prototypes took to the skies and maintained a synchronized formation throughout the flight.

The aircraft adjusted their positions relative to each other using artificial intelligence-driven flight control systems, proving that future aerial maneuvers can be conducted by unmanned systems with high precision and zero pilot intervention.

Combat Air Patrol Mission Successfully Completed

Beyond mere formation flying, the test also validated operational capabilities. The two KIZILELMA platforms successfully executed a Combat Air Patrol (CAP) mission, which is a critical component of modern air defense.

By conducting patrol flights along a designated route as a fleet, these platforms demonstrated that national unmanned systems are now capable of carrying out air defense, interception, and escort missions using swarm or fleet concepts.

Aviation experts suggest that this milestone cements Türkiye's position at the forefront of unmanned combat technology. The ability of two unmanned fighter jets to fly in autonomous formation confirms that national combat systems have reached the level of maturity required for fully autonomous swarm operations in high-threat zones.

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