Two sleek, tailless jets closed in on each other over the Black Sea, trading virtual shots at supersonic speed while no human pilot touched a stick. In staging what officials describe as the world’s first unmanned dogfight between combat jets, Turkey signaled that aerial warfare is entering a phase where algorithms, not aviators, may decide who controls the sky.
The robot-versus-robot trial capped a rapid series of tests that have turned the Bayraktar Kizilelma from a concept into a flying combat system able to fire missiles, fly in formation and now duel its own kind. I see that progression not as a stunt, but as a deliberate bid by Ankara to move from drone power to full-spectrum, AI-enabled airpower.
How Turkey got to the first robot dogfight
The unmanned dogfight did not appear out of nowhere, it grew from a decade in which Turkey methodically built a drone industry and then pushed it into the fighter-jet class. The Bayraktar Kizilelma, developed by Baykar, is described as Turkey’s first unmanned fighter plane made in Turkiye, a platform designed from the outset to operate in complicated mission settings rather than as a simple surveillance drone. That ambition set the stage for more aggressive experiments, including air combat trials that would have been unthinkable when Ankara first fielded small quadcopters over its borders.
By the time two Kizilelma aircraft were cleared to spar autonomously, they had already flown as a coordinated pair and proven they could share data and maintain tight spacing without human micromanagement. Reports on the world’s first unmanned dogfight describe how Turkey’s Kizilelma drones completed an autonomous formation flight and then moved into a combat scenario, with onboard systems handling maneuvering and data exchange between the aircraft at the speed of fighter jet operations. That progression, from formation to mock combat, is what makes this test feel like a threshold moment rather than a one-off demonstration.
Inside the Kizilelma: a UCAV built for air combat
At the heart of this story is a machine that blurs the line between drone and fighter, a stealthy UCAV built to carry both air-to-air missiles and long-range cruise missiles. Technical descriptions of Kizilelma note that it has a length of 14.7 meters and a wingspan of 10 meters, proportions that place it firmly in the fighter-sized category rather than the small drone class. Its design is optimized for high subsonic or transonic performance, with internal bays and hardpoints sized for modern AAM and stand-off weapons, which is why it can credibly step into roles once reserved for crewed jets.
Earlier tests showed that this was not just a flying testbed but a weaponized aircraft. In one trial, Turkey’s combat drone achieved what was described as the world’s first beyond-visual-range aerial kill by an unmanned fighter, with Kizilelma shooting down an aerial target using a live missile during the test held off the coast of Turkey. That same campaign highlighted how the UCAV’s AAM and AESA radar integration, layered on top of its existing air-to-ground capabilities, is rapidly nearing full combat readiness, turning Kizilelma into a multi-role platform rather than a niche experiment.
From formation flight to dogfight: the Dec breakthrough
The decisive step toward robot-on-robot combat came when two Kizilelma jets learned to fly together without pilots, then to fight each other. Over the winter, reports described how two Turkish Kizilelma unmanned fighter jets performed what was billed as the World’s First Autonomous Formation Flight, with the lead and wingman maintaining position and reacting to each other’s actions again and again while the system logged 44 key parameters of the encounter. That same event was framed as a world first for autonomous formation flight in the fighter class, a milestone that validated the aircraft’s ability to operate in coordinated packages rather than as lone assets.
Shortly afterward, coverage of the world’s first unmanned dogfight explained that Turkey’s Kizilelma drones completed an autonomous close formation flight and then transitioned into a combat scenario, with onboard AI handling maneuvers and data exchange between the aircraft. The Bayraktar KIZILELMA program was described as having marked another inflection point in the evolution of combat UCAVs by successfully carrying out the first autonomous flight in close formation between two KIZILELMA unmanned fighter jets, proving that the system is capable of operating in coordinated packages that can then peel off into engagements. In other words, the Dec breakthrough was not just about two robots dueling, it was about a networked swarm beginning to learn the choreography of air combat.
Live fire, virtual kills: how Kizilelma learned to fight
The dogfight test rested on a foundation of earlier trials that taught Kizilelma how to sense, track and hit targets in both simulated and live-fire conditions. In one high-profile event, Baykar’s unmanned fighter Bayraktar KIZILELMA scored a direct hit in its maiden live-fire test, striking a designated target and demonstrating that its fire-control software and datalinks could work in complicated mission settings. That live shot followed a virtual engagement in which Kizilelma locked onto an F-16 at 30 miles and scored what was described as a direct hit in a simulated fire, with two F-16 fighter jets belonging to the Turkish Air Force participating in the trial to validate its air-to-air combat capability.
Those rehearsals culminated in a beyond-visual-range engagement that pushed the envelope further. During the test held off the coast of Turkey, Kizilelma fired a missile that destroyed an aerial target at long distance, a moment captured in a widely shared Video that underscored how Turkey’s combat drone had achieved a world’s first beyond-visual-range aerial kill. In parallel, an all-Turkish setup saw the Bayraktar Kizilelma drone hit a test target using domestically produced sensors and weapons, an event described By Cem Devrim Yaylali as a showcase of how Visitors standing near the Bayraktar Kizilelma at an airshow were looking at a system that could already plug into manned–unmanned joint operations.
Carriers, command nodes and the Kaan connection
The unmanned dogfight is only one piece of a broader architecture that Turkey is trying to build around Kizilelma. Naval planners expect KIZILELMA to operate aboard the Turkish Navy flagship TCG Anadolu as well as the future MUGEM aircraft carrier, turning those ships into hubs for unmanned strike and air defense missions. As part of the first air-to-air test, Kizilelma hit its target at first firing, a result that was highlighted in naval reporting as proof that the UCAV could eventually defend the fleet from airborne threats while also projecting power ashore.
In the air domain, Ankara is pairing Kizilelma with its next-generation fighter project, Kaan, in a concept that treats the manned jet as a flying brain for a constellation of drones. Kaan is envisaged not only as a stealth fighter but as an airborne command-and-control node capable of orchestrating larger numbers of unmanned assets rather than a single flagship fighter, a vision that fits neatly with Kizilelma’s ability to fly in autonomous formation and execute beyond-visual-range strikes. In that construct, the robot dogfight is not an isolated spectacle, it is a rehearsal for a future in which Kaan directs packs of UCAVs that can scout, strike and, if necessary, duel enemy drones without exposing a human pilot.
Domestic ecosystem: all-Turkish tech and industrial ambition
What makes the Kizilelma story distinctive is how tightly it is woven into Turkey’s domestic industrial and political ambitions. The all-Turkish test setup that saw Kizilelma hit a target with locally produced sensors, datalinks and weapons was framed as proof that Turkiye can field a complete kill chain without relying on foreign suppliers. That same narrative runs through the maiden live-fire test, where Baykar’s unmanned fighter Bayraktar KIZILELMA was presented as Turkey’s first unmanned fighter plane made in Turkiye, a point of national pride that also has practical implications for export control and sanctions resilience.
The program has also become a touchstone in public debate and online commentary. In one widely discussed thread titled Bayraktar KIZILELMA achieves a world first, two unmanned fighter jets were praised for beating out both Anduril and General At in reaching an autonomous formation milestone, with one commenter writing, Honestly very impressive in a nod to how quickly Turkish engineers had moved. A separate video segment under the banner Trump, Arabs & NATO Left Red-Faced? Turkey’s Unmanned highlighted how Nov footage of the Barakar Kisalma, a misspelled reference to the same jet, was being used to argue that Ankara had redefined aerial warfare in a way that surprised traditional partners and rivals alike.
AI brains and data links: what autonomy really means
Behind the dramatic footage of two jets twisting through the sky is a quieter revolution in software and networking. Reports on the autonomous formation and dogfight trials emphasize that the Kizilelma pair relied on high-speed data exchange between the aircraft, allowing them to coordinate maneuvers and share sensor tracks without waiting for human commands. The Bayraktar KIZILELMA program was described as having validated the aircraft’s ability to operate in coordinated packages, a phrase that points to swarming tactics where multiple UCAVs can divide tasks such as jamming, strike and air cover among themselves.
Those capabilities rest on the integration of advanced avionics, including the UCAV’s AAM and AESA radar suite that was highlighted in a recent test as rapidly nearing full combat readiness. In that trial, engineers stressed that this successful validation of the UCAV’s AAM and AESA radar integration, along with its existing air-to-ground capabilities and its ability to operate from an aircraft carrier, is rapidly nearing full combat readiness, suggesting that the same sensor fusion and targeting logic used for missile shots is now being adapted for close-in maneuvering. In practical terms, autonomy here means that Kizilelma can perceive, decide and act within engagement envelopes that would be difficult for a remote human operator to manage in real time.
What robot dogfights mean for pilots and air forces
For human pilots, the sight of two unmanned jets dueling is both a relief and a warning. On one hand, shifting high-risk missions such as suppression of enemy air defenses or deep penetration strikes to UCAVs like Kizilelma could reduce the need to send crewed fighters into the teeth of modern air defenses. On the other, the same tests that showed Kizilelma locking onto an F-16 at 30 MILES and scoring a DIRECT HIT in a VIRTUAL engagement also hint at a future in which manned fighters are increasingly outmatched by cheaper, more expendable robots that can pull higher Gs and accept greater risk.
Air forces watching Turkey’s experiments will have to decide how far and how fast to follow. Some may choose a conservative path, using unmanned fighters as loyal wingmen that extend the reach of crewed jets without replacing them, a model that fits with Kaan acting as a command node for Kizilelma formations. Others may see the world’s first unmanned dogfight as a signal that they need to invest in their own robot-versus-robot training regimes, lest they find themselves facing adversaries whose UCAVs have already learned to fight each other in thousands of simulated and live encounters.
The next frontiers: swarms, navies and contested skies
The Kizilelma dogfight is unlikely to remain unique for long, instead it looks like the opening move in a broader competition over autonomous air combat. Turkey’s decision to qualify KIZILELMA for operations from the Turkish Navy flagship TCG Anadolu and the future MUGEM carrier suggests that naval task groups could soon deploy decks full of unmanned fighters that can launch, recover and rearm with minimal human intervention. In that environment, robot-on-robot engagements might unfold not just over land borders but above carrier groups, with UCAVs defending ships from cruise missiles, enemy drones and crewed aircraft alike.
At the same time, the integration of Kizilelma into all-Turkish command networks and its pairing with Kaan as an airborne coordinator point toward a future in which swarms of UCAVs contest airspace without a single human pilot crossing the border. The world’s first unmanned dogfight, staged by Turkey’s Kizilelma drones in Dec as part of a campaign that included autonomous formation flight and beyond-visual-range kills, is therefore less an endpoint than a proof of concept. I see it as an early glimpse of air wars where the decisive battles are fought at machine speed, by aircraft that never need a cockpit canopy at all.
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