Optimal flight trajectory and aerobatic maneuvers against missiles

This paper deals with a nonlinear flight trajectory tracking control system applied to inverse control for acrobatic maneuvers. First, the minimum time and radius barrel roll trajectory and control inputs for a point mass model aircraft are computed using an optimal control theory. This barrel roll flight is an example of acrobatic maneuvers against missiles. Next, the nonlinear flight trajectory tracking system for acrobatic maneuvers is synthesized. Then, some numerical simulations for the rigid body model aircraft instead of a point mass aircraft are performed to compare the trajectory obtained from the proposed tracking system with the optimal one. The simulation results show that the trajectory achieved with the proposed system is close to the optimal one.