Integrated Flight/Propulsion Control for Next Generation Military Aircraft

The integration of flight and propulsion control systems on future military aircraft offers the potential for improved steady state and dynamic performance while tolerating faults generated by component failures and battle damage. Achieving this capability will require improved modeling, advances in control and fault-accommodation logic, and redundant computer system architectures with appropriate communication capabilities. Integration of associated systems, such as hydraulic and electrical power, fuel distribution and thermal management, and environmental control, will also be required. Finally, a new management perspective will be needed in both industry and government sectors to foster and mature these “technologies of integration”.