Two Bayraktar Kızılelma combat drones have carried out what Turkish drone maker Baykar described as the world’s first autonomous close-formation flight by jet-powered unmanned aircraft, the company said Sunday.
Bayraktar #KIZILELMA ✈️🚀🍎
✅ World’s First: Autonomous Close-Formation Flight by Two Unmanned Fighter Aircraft#NationalTechnologyInitiative 🌍🇹🇷 pic.twitter.com/p8smO5gaM4
— BAYKAR (@BaykarTech) December 28, 2025
Baykar said the aircraft executed synchronized maneuvers and maintained close spacing using autonomous coordination software, adding that there was no human intervention in the formation-flying portion of the test.
Baykar stated that close-formation flying has been a standard technique in manned military aviation, noting that it is seeking to demonstrate similar coordination among unmanned aircraft. The company described the flight as the first publicly announced example of fully autonomous close-formation flight by jet-powered unmanned combat aircraft.
The test took place at the Akıncı Flight Training and Test Center in Çorlu in the northwestern province of Tekirdağ, according to Baykar. The company said the two aircraft took off consecutively as part of work on what it calls fleet autonomy, meaning multiple aircraft coordinating as a group.
Baykar reported that during the flight the drones also conducted a combat air patrol mission along a predefined route. It said the patrol was carried out using autonomous coordination software as a demonstration of how multiple unmanned aircraft could perform air defense related tasks together.
According to Baykar, the capability it is developing would allow several unmanned platforms to operate under a lead aircraft and adjust their relative positions while executing a shared mission. It said this could support tasks such as patrol and interception that are often carried out by manned fighter aircraft.
In describing the significance of the test, Baykar compared it with US efforts such as the US Air Force’s Skyborg work and its Collaborative Combat Aircraft program, which remain under development. Baykar also said there hadn’t been similar demonstrations publicly showcased by China, though it did not cite specific programs.
Kızılelma is Baykar’s jet powered unmanned combat aircraft platform, which the company says is intended to operate along with manned fighter jets and take on missions that can include air to air roles. Baykar noted that the platform has been undergoing phased flight testing since its first flight in late 2022.