Abstract This study investigates the effects of continuous atmospheric turbulence on the longitudinal and lateral-directional flight dynamics of a tailless unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV) with a lambda wing planform. The absence of vertical tail surfaces reduces inherent stability and introduces strong coupling between flight modes, making disturbance rejection a critical challenge. The UCAV dynamics were linearised using small perturbation theory and represented in state-space form, with turbulence disturbances modelled using the Von Karman spectrum under light, moderate and severe intensities. The dynamic flight modes were evaluated with reference to the MIL-F-8785C flying quality requirements. State feedback and state observer-based controllers were initially designed using pole placement techniques to evaluate the performance of linear systems and gain insight into their flying qualities. A model predictive controller (MPC) was subsequently developed and compared with these controllers to assess their turbulence rejection and attitude tracking capabilities. Simulation results demonstrate that MPC provides superior robustness, effectively rejecting turbulence across all intensities while ensuring accurate pitch and roll attitude tracking. The findings provide new insights into the dynamics and control of tailless UCAVs under realistic turbulence conditions, supporting the viability of such configurations for mission-oriented applications.
Sudhakar et al. (Thu,) studied this question.