Aircraft having redundant directional control

An aircraft having a thrust-borne flight mode and a wing-borne flight mode, the aircraft comprising:

• an airframe having first and second wings with at least first and second pylons extending therebetween and with a plurality of tail members extending therefrom;
• a pod assembly coupled to the airframe between the first and second pylons;
• a two-dimensional distributed thrust array attached to the airframe, the thrust array including at least four line replaceable propulsion units;
• and
• a flight control system operable to independently control each of the propulsion units;
• each propulsion unit comprising:
• a housing;
• a gimbal coupled to the housing and operable to tilt about first and second axes;
• first and second actuators operable to tilt the gimbal respectively about the first and second axes;
• and
• a propulsion system coupled to and operable to tilt with the gimbal, the propulsion system including an electric motor having an output drive and a rotor assembly having a plurality of rotor blades, the rotor assembly rotatable with the output drive of the electric motor in a rotational plane to generate thrust having a thrust vector;
• wherein, responsive to a thrust vector error of a first propulsion assembly, the flight control system commands at least a second propulsion assembly that is symmetrically disposed relative to the first propulsion assembly to counteract the thrust vector error, thereby providing redundant directional control for the aircraft.