In FADS, EADS Military Air Systems has developed a completely new air data system and subjected it to practical trials on the X-31 experimental aircraft.
Along with the VECTOR programme, the FADS trials ended in April 2003 with the spectacular world's first ever thrust-vectored automatic short landings at angles of attack of up to 24°. The aim of the FADS research programme was to demonstrate the feasibility and suitability of an air data system that is integrated flush with the outer surface of an aircraft. To this end, EADS Military Air Systems developed a mini-sensor comprising twelve individual tiny sensors that can be integrated into the nose tip of an aircraft. The sensors measure the surface pressures at various points around the nose tip and from these values they calculate all the parameters needed for modern flight control: Mach number, altitude, angle of attack and angle of sideslip. FADS reliably acquires flight data, even during extreme flight manoeuvres. In addition, the miniaturized sensor helps to reduce aerodynamic resistance and the radar signature.
