Former US military pilots CW Lemoine (Mover), Gonky, and Casmo evaluated the Bayraktar Kızılelma's world-first autonomous formation flight. The pilots described the progress made by the Turkish aviation industry as a "major turning point," while also drawing attention to the frightening dimensions of the "button-pressing warfare" concept brought about by this technology.
The latest episode of *”The Mover and Gonky Show”*, a popular YouTube channel where former fighter pilots discuss military aviation topics, focuses on Türkiye's unmanned combat aircraft. Bayraktar Kızılelma The program's presenters analyzed, second by second, the footage of the two Kızılelma drones taking off simultaneously from the runway and performing autonomous formation flight in the air.
“"They are constantly pushing the goal forward."”
At the beginning of the video, the former pilot nicknamed "Gonky" jokingly mentioned Türkiye's progress in the aviation industry, but after watching the footage, he became serious and said the following:
“Joking aside, they’ve reached another milestone in unmanned and autonomous drone technology. These vehicles fly in formation. That’s truly a big deal.”
CW Lemoine (Mover), a former F-16 and F-18 pilot, stated that he was impressed by Kızılelma's takeoff performance., “"The takeoff looks quite aggressive; they activated the afterburner and took off in 10 seconds."” He made the comment.
The pilots emphasized that things previously said "they could never do" were being accomplished one by one by Turkish engineers. Mover, “They keep moving the goalposts further forward. At first we said 'they can't do that,' then they did. Now we say 'formation flying is difficult, they can't do that,' but they've done that too.‘ He couldn't hide his surprise, he said.
“"Scary but Cool"”
Casmo, a former Apache helicopter pilot, acknowledged the impressive military aspects of the technology but expressed concerns about its humanitarian and ethical dimensions. Describing Kızılelma's autonomous capabilities as "both cool and terrifying," Casmo said:
“If we reduce war to just the act of pushing a button, the emotional connection disappears and things spiral out of control. It’s very easy to shoot someone thousands of kilometers away with the push of a button; but it’s very different when you’re there, looking that person in the eye. I don’t like this trend, but if we don’t do it, others (like Türkiye) are already doing it.”
The future of cruise videos.“
The pilots also humorously discussed the future of “cruise videos” (flight clips), a part of military aviation culture that is often filmed from the cockpit. Gonky, “Even though there’s no longer a pilot holding the camera in the back, thanks to this technology we won’t lose cruise videos, which is a good thing.” He said this while referring to the external photography capabilities of unmanned aircraft.
“"Kızılelma Looks Good"”
At the end of the program, Mover stated that he would only offer a superficial comment, expressing his opinion on the design of Kızılelma., “"Frankly, they look quite handsome."” He summarized it with these words.
This analysis by American pilots once again demonstrated how the success of the Turkish defense industry in unmanned aerial vehicles has resonated globally, especially among experienced military personnel.
Keywords: Bayraktar Kızılelma, US Pilots, Autonomous Formation Flight, Mover and Gonky, Turkish Defense Industry, Unmanned Combat Aircraft, CW Lemoine, Selçuk Bayraktar, Air Warfare Technologies.
Source: The Mover and Gonky Show – YouTube
