  Modern high-performance combat aircraft exceed conventional flight-envelope
limits on maneuverability through the use of thrust vectoring, and so achieve
supermaneuverability. With ongoing development of biomimetic unmanned aerial
vehicles (UAVs), the potential for supermaneuverability through biomimetic
mechanisms becomes apparent. So far, this potential has not been well studied:
biomimetic UAVs have not yet been shown to be capable of any of the forms of
classical supermaneuverability available to thrust-vectored aircraft. Here we
show this capability, by demonstrating how biomimetic morphing-wing UAVs can
perform sophisticated multiaxis nose-pointing-and-shooting (NPAS) maneuvers at
low morphing complexity. Nonlinear flight-dynamic analysis is used to
characterize the extent and stability of the multidimensional space of aircraft
trim states that arises from biomimetic morphing. Navigating this trim space
provides an effective model-based guidance strategy for generating open-loop
NPAS maneuvers in simulation. Our results demonstrate the capability of
biomimetic aircraft for air combat-relevant supermaneuverability, and provide
strategies for the exploration, characterization, and guidance of further forms
of classical and non-classical supermaneuverability in such aircraft.
