Control Barrier Functions as Autonomous Pilots for Low-Observability of Aircraft Against Mobile Radar

Ege C. Altunkaya; Akin Catak; Fatih Erol; Mustafa Demir; Emre Koyuncu; Ibrahim Ozkol

doi:10.1109/CCTA53793.2025.11151516

Control Barrier Functions as Autonomous Pilots for Low-Observability of Aircraft Against Mobile Radar

Ege C. Altunkaya, Akin Catak, Fatih Erol, Mustafa Demir, Emre Koyuncu, Ibrahim Ozkol

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution › peer-review

Abstract

This paper aims to mitigate the vulnerability of an aircraft to radar detection arising from inherent design limitations by proposing a technique to generate maneuvers that reduce the aircraft's radar cross-section (RCS) below a specified threshold when exposed to dynamic (mobile) radar threats. The proposed approach utilizes control barrier functions and exploits the relationship between control inputs and the RCS, with the required RCS database for the baseline aircraft generated through numerical analyzes. The outcomes are contrasted with a virtual path that omits RCS constraints and maintains the aircraft's rotational attitude stationary. Simulation results validate the effectiveness of the proposed methodology, as evidenced by a comparison with the virtual trajectory, where the RCS reaches up to 25 dBsm. In contrast, the CBF-pilot approach keeps the RCS at the predefined threshold of 0 dBsm throughout the maneuver.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	2025 IEEE Conference on Control Technology and Applications, CCTA 2025
Editors	Christopher Vermillion, Sorin Olaru, Johanna Mathieu, Mehmet Mercangoz, Stephanie Stockar, Alireza Karimi, Timm Faulwasser, Eric Kerrigan, Rolf Fineisen, Sebastien Gros, Ionela Prodan, Christopher Edwards, Fabrizio Dabbene, Airlie Chapman, Behrouz Touri
Publisher	Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc.
Pages	208-213
Number of pages	6
ISBN (Electronic)	9798331539085
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1109/CCTA53793.2025.11151516
Publication status	Published - 2025
Event	9th IEEE Conference on Control Technology and Applications, CCTA 2025 - San Diego, United States Duration: 25 Aug 2025 → 27 Aug 2025

Publication series

Name	2025 IEEE Conference on Control Technology and Applications, CCTA 2025

Conference

Conference	9th IEEE Conference on Control Technology and Applications, CCTA 2025
Country/Territory	United States
City	San Diego
Period	25/08/25 → 27/08/25

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2025 IEEE.

Keywords

control barrier functions
low-observability
maneuver generation
radar cross-section
survivability

Access to Document

10.1109/CCTA53793.2025.11151516

Cite this

Altunkaya, E. C., Catak, A., Erol, F., Demir, M., Koyuncu, E., & Ozkol, I. (2025). Control Barrier Functions as Autonomous Pilots for Low-Observability of Aircraft Against Mobile Radar. In C. Vermillion, S. Olaru, J. Mathieu, M. Mercangoz, S. Stockar, A. Karimi, T. Faulwasser, E. Kerrigan, R. Fineisen, S. Gros, I. Prodan, C. Edwards, F. Dabbene, A. Chapman, & B. Touri (Eds.), 2025 IEEE Conference on Control Technology and Applications, CCTA 2025 (pp. 208-213). (2025 IEEE Conference on Control Technology and Applications, CCTA 2025). Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc.. https://doi.org/10.1109/CCTA53793.2025.11151516

Altunkaya, Ege C. ; Catak, Akin ; Erol, Fatih et al. / Control Barrier Functions as Autonomous Pilots for Low-Observability of Aircraft Against Mobile Radar. 2025 IEEE Conference on Control Technology and Applications, CCTA 2025. editor / Christopher Vermillion ; Sorin Olaru ; Johanna Mathieu ; Mehmet Mercangoz ; Stephanie Stockar ; Alireza Karimi ; Timm Faulwasser ; Eric Kerrigan ; Rolf Fineisen ; Sebastien Gros ; Ionela Prodan ; Christopher Edwards ; Fabrizio Dabbene ; Airlie Chapman ; Behrouz Touri. Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc., 2025. pp. 208-213 (2025 IEEE Conference on Control Technology and Applications, CCTA 2025).

@inproceedings{7e7342794f2c4320abe5556592f1b161,

title = "Control Barrier Functions as Autonomous Pilots for Low-Observability of Aircraft Against Mobile Radar",

abstract = "This paper aims to mitigate the vulnerability of an aircraft to radar detection arising from inherent design limitations by proposing a technique to generate maneuvers that reduce the aircraft's radar cross-section (RCS) below a specified threshold when exposed to dynamic (mobile) radar threats. The proposed approach utilizes control barrier functions and exploits the relationship between control inputs and the RCS, with the required RCS database for the baseline aircraft generated through numerical analyzes. The outcomes are contrasted with a virtual path that omits RCS constraints and maintains the aircraft's rotational attitude stationary. Simulation results validate the effectiveness of the proposed methodology, as evidenced by a comparison with the virtual trajectory, where the RCS reaches up to 25 dBsm. In contrast, the CBF-pilot approach keeps the RCS at the predefined threshold of 0 dBsm throughout the maneuver.",

keywords = "control barrier functions, low-observability, maneuver generation, radar cross-section, survivability",

author = "Altunkaya, \{Ege C.\} and Akin Catak and Fatih Erol and Mustafa Demir and Emre Koyuncu and Ibrahim Ozkol",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2025 IEEE.; 9th IEEE Conference on Control Technology and Applications, CCTA 2025 ; Conference date: 25-08-2025 Through 27-08-2025",

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doi = "10.1109/CCTA53793.2025.11151516",

language = "English",

series = "2025 IEEE Conference on Control Technology and Applications, CCTA 2025",

publisher = "Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc.",

pages = "208--213",

editor = "Christopher Vermillion and Sorin Olaru and Johanna Mathieu and Mehmet Mercangoz and Stephanie Stockar and Alireza Karimi and Timm Faulwasser and Eric Kerrigan and Rolf Fineisen and Sebastien Gros and Ionela Prodan and Christopher Edwards and Fabrizio Dabbene and Airlie Chapman and Behrouz Touri",

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Altunkaya, EC , Catak, A, Erol, F, Demir, M, Koyuncu, E & Ozkol, I 2025, Control Barrier Functions as Autonomous Pilots for Low-Observability of Aircraft Against Mobile Radar. in C Vermillion, S Olaru, J Mathieu, M Mercangoz, S Stockar, A Karimi, T Faulwasser, E Kerrigan, R Fineisen, S Gros, I Prodan, C Edwards, F Dabbene, A Chapman & B Touri (eds), 2025 IEEE Conference on Control Technology and Applications, CCTA 2025. 2025 IEEE Conference on Control Technology and Applications, CCTA 2025, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc., pp. 208-213, 9th IEEE Conference on Control Technology and Applications, CCTA 2025, San Diego, United States, 25/08/25. https://doi.org/10.1109/CCTA53793.2025.11151516

Control Barrier Functions as Autonomous Pilots for Low-Observability of Aircraft Against Mobile Radar. / Altunkaya, Ege C.; Catak, Akin; Erol, Fatih et al.
2025 IEEE Conference on Control Technology and Applications, CCTA 2025. ed. / Christopher Vermillion; Sorin Olaru; Johanna Mathieu; Mehmet Mercangoz; Stephanie Stockar; Alireza Karimi; Timm Faulwasser; Eric Kerrigan; Rolf Fineisen; Sebastien Gros; Ionela Prodan; Christopher Edwards; Fabrizio Dabbene; Airlie Chapman; Behrouz Touri. Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc., 2025. p. 208-213 (2025 IEEE Conference on Control Technology and Applications, CCTA 2025).

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution › peer-review

TY - GEN

T1 - Control Barrier Functions as Autonomous Pilots for Low-Observability of Aircraft Against Mobile Radar

AU - Altunkaya, Ege C.

AU - Catak, Akin

AU - Erol, Fatih

AU - Demir, Mustafa

AU - Koyuncu, Emre

AU - Ozkol, Ibrahim

PY - 2025

Y1 - 2025

N2 - This paper aims to mitigate the vulnerability of an aircraft to radar detection arising from inherent design limitations by proposing a technique to generate maneuvers that reduce the aircraft's radar cross-section (RCS) below a specified threshold when exposed to dynamic (mobile) radar threats. The proposed approach utilizes control barrier functions and exploits the relationship between control inputs and the RCS, with the required RCS database for the baseline aircraft generated through numerical analyzes. The outcomes are contrasted with a virtual path that omits RCS constraints and maintains the aircraft's rotational attitude stationary. Simulation results validate the effectiveness of the proposed methodology, as evidenced by a comparison with the virtual trajectory, where the RCS reaches up to 25 dBsm. In contrast, the CBF-pilot approach keeps the RCS at the predefined threshold of 0 dBsm throughout the maneuver.

AB - This paper aims to mitigate the vulnerability of an aircraft to radar detection arising from inherent design limitations by proposing a technique to generate maneuvers that reduce the aircraft's radar cross-section (RCS) below a specified threshold when exposed to dynamic (mobile) radar threats. The proposed approach utilizes control barrier functions and exploits the relationship between control inputs and the RCS, with the required RCS database for the baseline aircraft generated through numerical analyzes. The outcomes are contrasted with a virtual path that omits RCS constraints and maintains the aircraft's rotational attitude stationary. Simulation results validate the effectiveness of the proposed methodology, as evidenced by a comparison with the virtual trajectory, where the RCS reaches up to 25 dBsm. In contrast, the CBF-pilot approach keeps the RCS at the predefined threshold of 0 dBsm throughout the maneuver.

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DO - 10.1109/CCTA53793.2025.11151516

M3 - Conference contribution

AN - SCOPUS:105017841614

T3 - 2025 IEEE Conference on Control Technology and Applications, CCTA 2025

SP - 208

EP - 213

BT - 2025 IEEE Conference on Control Technology and Applications, CCTA 2025

A2 - Vermillion, Christopher

A2 - Olaru, Sorin

A2 - Mathieu, Johanna

A2 - Mercangoz, Mehmet

A2 - Stockar, Stephanie

A2 - Karimi, Alireza

A2 - Faulwasser, Timm

A2 - Kerrigan, Eric

A2 - Fineisen, Rolf

A2 - Gros, Sebastien

A2 - Prodan, Ionela

A2 - Edwards, Christopher

A2 - Dabbene, Fabrizio

A2 - Chapman, Airlie

A2 - Touri, Behrouz

PB - Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc.

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Y2 - 25 August 2025 through 27 August 2025

ER -

Altunkaya EC , Catak A, Erol F, Demir M, Koyuncu E , Ozkol I. Control Barrier Functions as Autonomous Pilots for Low-Observability of Aircraft Against Mobile Radar. In Vermillion C, Olaru S, Mathieu J, Mercangoz M, Stockar S, Karimi A, Faulwasser T, Kerrigan E, Fineisen R, Gros S, Prodan I, Edwards C, Dabbene F, Chapman A, Touri B, editors, 2025 IEEE Conference on Control Technology and Applications, CCTA 2025. Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc. 2025. p. 208-213. (2025 IEEE Conference on Control Technology and Applications, CCTA 2025). doi: 10.1109/CCTA53793.2025.11151516

Control Barrier Functions as Autonomous Pilots for Low-Observability of Aircraft Against Mobile Radar

Abstract

Publication series

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Bibliographical note

Keywords

Access to Document

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