Maneuverability and Agility Evaluation of Fighter Based on Beck Metrics

Modern fighters still emphasize strong maneuver characteristics so as to have advantages in air combat. In the field of flight dynamic, the concept of maneuver characteristics includes maneuverability and agility. The traditional evaluation method of maneuver characteristics is to select specific maneuvers and take motion time or state directly as the evaluation parameters, which cannot fully reflect the combat superiority. Therefore, in this paper, the Beck metrics established based on the motion equation of aircraft under the Frenet axes system are used. According to the principle that maneuverability is the first derivative of aircraft trajectory and agility is the first derivative of maneuverability, the evaluation parameters are extracted to form the beck metrics. Then, Beck metrics are used to typical motions even post-stall maneuvers. The results show that Beck metrics can make use of the time-domain data of flight to calculate the maneuverability and agility in different axial directions quickly, which is suitable for any maneuver of aircraft. Finally, the application of Beck metrics in the field of model-based flight test is discussed. Maneuvering data obtained from flight test can be used to evaluate the maneuver characteristics, as well as to identify and calculate the aerodynamic parameters, so as to realize model verification.