A senior scientist associated with the paper stated that there are many complexities involved in landing a sixth-generation fighter on an aircraft carrier.
Pilots aboard a flying-wing aircraft without a tail face difficulties in landing it on a carrier. The lack of horizontal stabilizers makes the plane struggle to maintain pitch control.
Moreover, further difficulty is caused by the air that moves behind an aircraft carrier, which can disrupt the flight paths of the stealth fighter.
However, the scientists stated that it is important for China to overcome these challenges as a sixth-generation stealth fighter jet can give a major boost to the operational capability of the Navy.
Therefore, the scientists have developed a ‘direct force control’ system, as per the SCMP report. The system measures control surface adjustments in real-time to enable the pilot to bypass the aerodynamic databases.
The team has opted for a Fixed-Time Disturbance Observer (FTDO) used in advanced robotics.