Turkey wants its fifth-generation fighter to fly to war with a robot wingman on each shoulder.

At the World Defense Show 2026, Turkish Aerospace Industries unveiled a manned-unmanned teaming concept that pairs the KAAN fighter with two Anka III stealth combat drones. In the demonstration, the trio rolled out of a hangar together, flew coordinated manoeuvres, and ran a strike — the pilot acting as the quarterback while the drones did the risky work.

It is Turkey’s clearest statement yet that it intends to join the very small club of nations building a complete next-generation air-combat system, not just a new jet.

The Quarterback and the Receivers

The idea behind loyal-wingman teaming is simple and brutal: send cheap, expendable, stealthy drones into the most dangerous airspace, and keep the expensive jet and its irreplaceable pilot further back, directing the fight. The KAAN supervises communication, targeting and weapons release; the Anka III drones scout, jam, and strike.

Turkey’s Bigger Bet

The reveal is as much industrial as it is military. Locked out of the F-35 program in 2019, Turkey doubled down on building its own stealth fighter and a family of increasingly capable drones — an industry that has already made Bayraktar a household name. Teaming the KAAN with the Anka III ties those two strands together into a single combat package Turkey can field, and export, on its own terms.

There is a long road from a slick hangar demonstration to a drone reliably taking orders from a fighter in combat. But the direction is unmistakable: the future Turkey is building has a human in the cockpit and machines flying into the teeth of the threat.

Sources: Turkish Aerospace Industries; Army Recognition; Shephard Media; Asian Military Review.