Successful completion of the first VECTOR (Very Extreme Short
Take-off and Landing Control and Tailless Operational Research)
landing by the X-31 was made possible by Hamilton Sundstrand's
Nord-Micro unit. With an approach angle of 24°, most conventional
landing-aid sensors would be rendered useless. Nord-Micro developed
a sensor package tucked into the front part of theX-31's radomes
which required the development of highly miniaturized parts, allowing
for the collection of raw data for angles of attack and sideslip,
altitude, and Mach number.
