Yes but people who play together do not have to form a wing per se.
Or do they?
So they can each have an NPC wing?
Sorry, but I am very noobish concerning the multiplayer part of the game.
I mostly play in Open, but I am a natural born soloist.
they can do this.... just like they do it already, albeit with pure players
i believe it is a tactic many of the player groups have used in the past to get far more than 4 together as a giant kill wing....
imo fear of a small percentage of players using npcs to create horrible gank squads should not stop what for many is the most important content which is currently missing from the game..... after all, the ones who really want to do that already do it and right now there is zero chance for the lone wolf when it happens.
1 suggestion...... if i hire 3 npc wingmen to fly with me in a wing, at that point the wing then becomes a "pilots federation" wing, ie they get temporary pilots federation member status whilst flying with me.
this means, they show up as a hollow box with a CMDR next to them..... that way, if a death squad interdict me, the player do not know exactly who is human and who is npc, giving the player precious seconds to run away OR at the very least dilute the laser fire.