Longitudinal controller design for a fighter aircraft using ℒ1 adaptive backstepping

In this paper, an ℒ₁ adaptive backstepping approach is proposed for flight control design. Transient and steady-state performance is guaranteed while control allocation between different effectors is done. Constraints on control inputs are accounted for such that they do not affect the adaptation process. The approach is applied to an aircraft longitudinal model with both aerodynamic and thrust-vectoring effectors. Simulations show that the control law works well in the presence of both model uncertainties and input constraints.