Design of Tracking Controller for In-flight Simulation of Fighter Aircraft by UAV Platform

In this paper the possibility of in-flight simulation of longitudinal and lateral dynamic of fighter aircraft by an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) is evaluated and the required controllers for in-flight simulation and tracking the flight profile of fighter aircraft are designed. Controllers design are based on the method of pole placement and tracking method, and the controllers are designed to adapt the UAV platform to track the longitudinal and lateral dynamic behavior of the fighter aircraft. After applying these controllers on the UAV platform, the fighter behavior is simulated and the simulation results showes that, dynamic behavior of fighter aircraft is appropriately tracked by UAV platform on a common performance envelope. To validate the results, the flight test data of the fighter aircraft is simulated by the UAV platform. Comparing the results of the flight simulation and the flight test profile, the capability of in-flight simulation of fighter aircraft by UAV platform is approved.