Leonardo’s M-346 Light Attack Fighter to Control Baykar’s Two KIZILELMA Combat Drones in Loyal Wingman Trial
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Leonardo will fly an M-346 as a “mother aircraft” controlling two Baykar-built unmanned fighters in a mid-2026 demonstration, aiming to prove a near-term collaborative combat model ready for NATO and export customers. The trial positions Leonardo to field crewed-uncrewed teaming without waiting for sixth-generation fighters, accelerating a deployable capability that pairs manned control with a scalable unmanned force.
Chief executive Roberto Cingolani outlined the plan during the company’s March 12, 2026, industrial presentation, describing a standard fighter directing two jointly produced unmanned fighters. The effort anchors Leonardo’s push into collaborative combat aircraft and open-architecture battle networks, with its LBA Systems joint venture with Baykar set to convert the concept into a producible, exportable system.
Read Also: Kizilelma Combat Drone Sharpens Türkiye’s Precision‑Strike Edge with LGK‑82 and TEBER‑82 Guided Bombs Test
Leonardo plans to demonstrate in 2026 that an M-346 light attack jet can control two Baykar KIZILELMA combat drones, signaling a near-term, lower-cost path to fielding collaborative combat airpower for NATO and export users (Picture Source: Leonardo / Baykar)
On March 12, 2026, Leonardo disclosed that it plans to begin manned-unmanned teaming demonstrations in mid-2026 using an M-346 light combat aircraft as a “mother aircraft” controlling two Baykar-built uncrewed fighters. The announcement came from chief executive Roberto Cingolani during the presentation of the group’s updated industrial plan, and it immediately drew attention because it points to a near-term, exportable teaming model built around existing aircraft rather than waiting for sixth-generation platforms. According to Leonardo, the first public proof of concept is intended to show a standard fighter directing two adjunct combat drones, with another test phase expected later in 2026.
What Leonardo is now trying to demonstrate is not only a technical link between one crewed aircraft and two unmanned wingmen, but a practical concept of operations that can be fielded before the Global Combat Air Programme reaches maturity. In Cingolani’s own description, the M-346 light attack fighter will govern two unmanned fighters jointly produced with Baykar, giving Leonardo a test case for collaborative combat aviation with a platform already positioned below the cost and complexity of top-tier combat aircraft. That point matters because it suggests an industrial and operational bridge between today’s fleets and tomorrow’s combat air systems.
The aircraft at the center of this concept is the M-346F Block 20, the latest light fighter evolution of Leonardo’s M-346 family. Leonardo says the fighter configuration adds combat systems while preserving the training and operational flexibility that made the baseline aircraft successful as an advanced jet trainer. The current M-346FA already carries a multi-mode radar, defensive aids suite, tactical datalink, seven external hardpoints, and the ability to employ air-to-air and air-to-surface weapons, while the newer M-346F Block 20 standard adds a Large Area Display, AESA radar, Link 16, electronic countermeasures, and new weapons integration. In practical terms, that makes the aircraft a credible airborne controller for MUM-T experimentation because it combines pilot workload management, tactical connectivity, and enough combat relevance to serve as more than a simple surrogate.
Paired with it is Baykar’s KIZILELMA, a jet-powered unmanned combat aircraft designed for high-speed, autonomous and semi-autonomous operations. Baykar describes the platform as having a 1.5-ton payload capacity, an 8.5-ton maximum take-off weight, a cruise speed of 0.6 Mach, a maximum speed of 0.9 Mach, a 500-nautical-mile combat radius and an operational altitude of 25,000 feet. The programme made its maiden flight on December 14, 2022, and since then Baykar has steadily used the test campaign to move beyond basic flight envelopes toward formation work, smart fleet autonomy and weapons integration. That progression is important because a loyal wingman or collaborative combat aircraft is only useful if it can remain connected, survive in contested airspace and contribute effects rather than simply extend sensing.
Its weapons testing record is therefore central to Leonardo’s choice. Baykar announced in October 2025 that KIZILELMA achieved direct hits in its first live-fire tests using TOLUN and TEBER-82, showing that the aircraft was already moving into the precision-strike domain. By late 2025, the programme had also advanced into air-to-air combat testing: Baykar reported that KIZILELMA detected a target with ASELSAN’s MURAD AESA radar and then fired a GÖKDOĞAN beyond-visual-range missile, while an earlier November test involved locking onto an F-16 and scoring a direct hit in simulated fire. Search results and follow-on coverage also indicate LGK-82 integration, expanding the strike menu around 500 lb-class guided weapons. Taken together, the public record shows a platform being prepared not only for reconnaissance or decoy roles, but for real strike and counter-air tasks.
That opens a broad mission set for an M-346F–KIZILELMA package. In a suppression or strike scenario, the crewed aircraft could remain outside the most dangerous zone while assigning one drone to sensor-forward reconnaissance and the second to weapons delivery, using the unmanned pair to probe air defenses, attack time-sensitive ground targets, or conduct battle damage assessment. In air-policing or defensive counter-air missions, KIZILELMA’s demonstrated path toward beyond-visual-range engagement suggests it could be used to widen radar and missile coverage ahead of the crewed platform, complicating an adversary’s targeting picture. The same architecture could support escort, stand-in jamming, decoy operations, maritime strike cueing, or attritable forward presence around a manned formation. Some of these uses remain analytical projections rather than declared Leonardo mission packages, but they follow directly from the M-346F’s datalinked combat role and KIZILELMA’s expanding strike and air-to-air test profile.
There is also a clear industrial logic behind the project. Leonardo and Baykar formally created LBA Systems in June 2025 as a 50:50 joint venture based in Italy to design, develop, produce and support unmanned aerial systems. Leonardo said Baykar would focus on advanced unmanned platforms, while Leonardo would contribute electronic systems and payloads, qualification and certification work, and manned-unmanned teaming and swarming capabilities. Even if LBA Systems was mentioned only briefly in this context, it is likely to be the structural mechanism that turns the M-346F–KIZILELMA pairing from a demonstration into a marketable European-Türkiye product line with a certification pathway more attractive to NATO and European customers.
Strategically, this is where the announcement becomes more significant than a single test event. The collaborative combat aircraft market is drawing intense interest across NATO because many allied air forces want mass, persistence and distributed lethality, but cannot afford to rebuild their inventories around only premium stealth fleets. Leonardo’s own framing was explicit: while countries wait for sixth-generation systems, they may still be offered adjunct unmanned fighters that can work with existing aircraft. That makes KIZILELMA potentially relevant not only as a Turkish combat drone, but as a lower-threshold CCA candidate for allied forces seeking a more affordable route into MUM-T. Its appeal would rest on three points: it already exists in flight test, it is being tied to a European industrial and certification ecosystem through Leonardo, and it could be integrated with a light fighter that is cheaper to buy and operate than front-line heavy combat aircraft.
For NATO air forces, the concept does not necessarily replace high-end stealth CCAs that will accompany F-35s or future sixth-generation fighters, but it does offer an alternative lane. Smaller and medium-sized allied operators could use such a system to add combat mass, extend sensor reach, and distribute risk without entering the cost bracket of next-generation air dominance programmes. The fact that Leonardo intends to prove the concept with a standard fighter rather than a sixth-generation platform is therefore not a limitation; it is the commercial and doctrinal argument. If the 2026 trials show stable control, secure data exchange and mission utility, the M-346F and KIZILELMA combination could emerge as one of the first NATO-relevant CCA solutions designed from the outset for countries that need capability growth faster than they can fund a generational leap.
The significance of the 2026 campaign lies in that simple shift. Leonardo is not proposing a distant concept tied only to future combat air ambitions; it is trying to show that a current light fighter can already direct two uncrewed fighters and generate useful combat effects. With KIZILELMA now progressing from flight testing into guided strike and beyond-visual-range air combat, and with LBA Systems giving the partnership an industrial base in Italy, the demonstration could become more than a technology showcase. It could mark the beginning of a more accessible CCA model for allied air forces that want mass, flexibility and faster fielding without waiting for the next decade.
Written by Teoman S. Nicanci – Defense Analyst, Army Recognition Group
Teoman S. Nicanci holds degrees in Political Science, Comparative and International Politics, and International Relations and Diplomacy from leading Belgian universities, with research focused on Russian strategic behavior, defense technology, and modern warfare. He is a defense analyst at Army Recognition, specializing in the global defense industry, military armament, and emerging defense technologies.
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Leonardo will fly an M-346 as a “mother aircraft” controlling two Baykar-built unmanned fighters in a mid-2026 demonstration, aiming to prove a near-term collaborative combat model ready for NATO and export customers. The trial positions Leonardo to field crewed-uncrewed teaming without waiting for sixth-generation fighters, accelerating a deployable capability that pairs manned control with a scalable unmanned force.
Chief executive Roberto Cingolani outlined the plan during the company’s March 12, 2026, industrial presentation, describing a standard fighter directing two jointly produced unmanned fighters. The effort anchors Leonardo’s push into collaborative combat aircraft and open-architecture battle networks, with its LBA Systems joint venture with Baykar set to convert the concept into a producible, exportable system.
Leonardo plans to demonstrate in 2026 that an M-346 light attack jet can control two Baykar KIZILELMA combat drones, signaling a near-term, lower-cost path to fielding collaborative combat airpower for NATO and export users (Picture Source: Leonardo / Baykar)
On March 12, 2026, Leonardo disclosed that it plans to begin manned-unmanned teaming demonstrations in mid-2026 using an M-346 light combat aircraft as a “mother aircraft” controlling two Baykar-built uncrewed fighters. The announcement came from chief executive Roberto Cingolani during the presentation of the group’s updated industrial plan, and it immediately drew attention because it points to a near-term, exportable teaming model built around existing aircraft rather than waiting for sixth-generation platforms. According to Leonardo, the first public proof of concept is intended to show a standard fighter directing two adjunct combat drones, with another test phase expected later in 2026.
What Leonardo is now trying to demonstrate is not only a technical link between one crewed aircraft and two unmanned wingmen, but a practical concept of operations that can be fielded before the Global Combat Air Programme reaches maturity. In Cingolani’s own description, the M-346 light attack fighter will govern two unmanned fighters jointly produced with Baykar, giving Leonardo a test case for collaborative combat aviation with a platform already positioned below the cost and complexity of top-tier combat aircraft. That point matters because it suggests an industrial and operational bridge between today’s fleets and tomorrow’s combat air systems.
The aircraft at the center of this concept is the M-346F Block 20, the latest light fighter evolution of Leonardo’s M-346 family. Leonardo says the fighter configuration adds combat systems while preserving the training and operational flexibility that made the baseline aircraft successful as an advanced jet trainer. The current M-346FA already carries a multi-mode radar, defensive aids suite, tactical datalink, seven external hardpoints, and the ability to employ air-to-air and air-to-surface weapons, while the newer M-346F Block 20 standard adds a Large Area Display, AESA radar, Link 16, electronic countermeasures, and new weapons integration. In practical terms, that makes the aircraft a credible airborne controller for MUM-T experimentation because it combines pilot workload management, tactical connectivity, and enough combat relevance to serve as more than a simple surrogate.
Paired with it is Baykar’s KIZILELMA, a jet-powered unmanned combat aircraft designed for high-speed, autonomous and semi-autonomous operations. Baykar describes the platform as having a 1.5-ton payload capacity, an 8.5-ton maximum take-off weight, a cruise speed of 0.6 Mach, a maximum speed of 0.9 Mach, a 500-nautical-mile combat radius and an operational altitude of 25,000 feet. The programme made its maiden flight on December 14, 2022, and since then Baykar has steadily used the test campaign to move beyond basic flight envelopes toward formation work, smart fleet autonomy and weapons integration. That progression is important because a loyal wingman or collaborative combat aircraft is only useful if it can remain connected, survive in contested airspace and contribute effects rather than simply extend sensing.
Its weapons testing record is therefore central to Leonardo’s choice. Baykar announced in October 2025 that KIZILELMA achieved direct hits in its first live-fire tests using TOLUN and TEBER-82, showing that the aircraft was already moving into the precision-strike domain. By late 2025, the programme had also advanced into air-to-air combat testing: Baykar reported that KIZILELMA detected a target with ASELSAN’s MURAD AESA radar and then fired a GÖKDOĞAN beyond-visual-range missile, while an earlier November test involved locking onto an F-16 and scoring a direct hit in simulated fire. Search results and follow-on coverage also indicate LGK-82 integration, expanding the strike menu around 500 lb-class guided weapons. Taken together, the public record shows a platform being prepared not only for reconnaissance or decoy roles, but for real strike and counter-air tasks.
That opens a broad mission set for an M-346F–KIZILELMA package. In a suppression or strike scenario, the crewed aircraft could remain outside the most dangerous zone while assigning one drone to sensor-forward reconnaissance and the second to weapons delivery, using the unmanned pair to probe air defenses, attack time-sensitive ground targets, or conduct battle damage assessment. In air-policing or defensive counter-air missions, KIZILELMA’s demonstrated path toward beyond-visual-range engagement suggests it could be used to widen radar and missile coverage ahead of the crewed platform, complicating an adversary’s targeting picture. The same architecture could support escort, stand-in jamming, decoy operations, maritime strike cueing, or attritable forward presence around a manned formation. Some of these uses remain analytical projections rather than declared Leonardo mission packages, but they follow directly from the M-346F’s datalinked combat role and KIZILELMA’s expanding strike and air-to-air test profile.
There is also a clear industrial logic behind the project. Leonardo and Baykar formally created LBA Systems in June 2025 as a 50:50 joint venture based in Italy to design, develop, produce and support unmanned aerial systems. Leonardo said Baykar would focus on advanced unmanned platforms, while Leonardo would contribute electronic systems and payloads, qualification and certification work, and manned-unmanned teaming and swarming capabilities. Even if LBA Systems was mentioned only briefly in this context, it is likely to be the structural mechanism that turns the M-346F–KIZILELMA pairing from a demonstration into a marketable European-Türkiye product line with a certification pathway more attractive to NATO and European customers.
Strategically, this is where the announcement becomes more significant than a single test event. The collaborative combat aircraft market is drawing intense interest across NATO because many allied air forces want mass, persistence and distributed lethality, but cannot afford to rebuild their inventories around only premium stealth fleets. Leonardo’s own framing was explicit: while countries wait for sixth-generation systems, they may still be offered adjunct unmanned fighters that can work with existing aircraft. That makes KIZILELMA potentially relevant not only as a Turkish combat drone, but as a lower-threshold CCA candidate for allied forces seeking a more affordable route into MUM-T. Its appeal would rest on three points: it already exists in flight test, it is being tied to a European industrial and certification ecosystem through Leonardo, and it could be integrated with a light fighter that is cheaper to buy and operate than front-line heavy combat aircraft.
For NATO air forces, the concept does not necessarily replace high-end stealth CCAs that will accompany F-35s or future sixth-generation fighters, but it does offer an alternative lane. Smaller and medium-sized allied operators could use such a system to add combat mass, extend sensor reach, and distribute risk without entering the cost bracket of next-generation air dominance programmes. The fact that Leonardo intends to prove the concept with a standard fighter rather than a sixth-generation platform is therefore not a limitation; it is the commercial and doctrinal argument. If the 2026 trials show stable control, secure data exchange and mission utility, the M-346F and KIZILELMA combination could emerge as one of the first NATO-relevant CCA solutions designed from the outset for countries that need capability growth faster than they can fund a generational leap.
The significance of the 2026 campaign lies in that simple shift. Leonardo is not proposing a distant concept tied only to future combat air ambitions; it is trying to show that a current light fighter can already direct two uncrewed fighters and generate useful combat effects. With KIZILELMA now progressing from flight testing into guided strike and beyond-visual-range air combat, and with LBA Systems giving the partnership an industrial base in Italy, the demonstration could become more than a technology showcase. It could mark the beginning of a more accessible CCA model for allied air forces that want mass, flexibility and faster fielding without waiting for the next decade.
Written by Teoman S. Nicanci – Defense Analyst, Army Recognition Group
Teoman S. Nicanci holds degrees in Political Science, Comparative and International Politics, and International Relations and Diplomacy from leading Belgian universities, with research focused on Russian strategic behavior, defense technology, and modern warfare. He is a defense analyst at Army Recognition, specializing in the global defense industry, military armament, and emerging defense technologies.
