An aircraft, comprising: a wing having a top surface and a bottom surface; a suction fan array having one or more fans mounted to the wing, the one or more fans each being positioned primarily above the top surface of the wing; a pressure fan array having one or more fans mounted to the wing, the one or more fans of the pressure fan array each being positioned primarily below the bottom surface of the wing; and a computing system having one or more memory devices and one or more processors, and wherein the one or more fans of the suction fan array are controllable independent of the one or more fans of the pressure fan array, and wherein the one or more fans of the suction fan array are controllable to a first fan speed and the one or more fans of the pressure fan array are controllable to a second fan speed, and the one or more processors being configured to: generate a control command based at least in part on a thrust demand and a flight segment of a flight of the aircraft, the thrust demand being a request for a specific thrust output of a distributed propulsion system of the aircraft that includes the fans (162A, 172A) of the suction and pressure fan arrays (160, 170), and the control command indicating instructions for adjusting at least one of the first fan speed and the second fan speed to optimize a lift on the wing for the flight segment; and cause adjustment of at least one of the first fan speed and the second fan speed based at least in part on the control command such that a pressure ratio of an air pressure below the wing to an air pressure above the top surface is changed to optimize the lift. a wing having a top surface and a bottom surface; a suction fan array having one or more fans mounted to the wing, the one or more fans each being positioned primarily above the top surface of the wing; a pressure fan array having one or more fans mounted to the wing, the one or more fans of the pressure fan array each being positioned primarily below the bottom surface of the wing; and a computing system having one or more memory devices and one or more processors, and wherein the one or more fans of the suction fan array are controllable independent of the one or more fans of the pressure fan array, and wherein the one or more fans of the suction fan array are controllable to a first fan speed and the one or more fans of the pressure fan array are controllable to a second fan speed, and the one or more processors being configured to: generate a control command based at least in part on a thrust demand and a flight segment of a flight of the aircraft, the thrust demand being a request for a specific thrust output of a distributed propulsion system of the aircraft that includes the fans (162A, 172A) of the suction and pressure fan arrays (160, 170), and the control command indicating instructions for adjusting at least one of the first fan speed and the second fan speed to optimize a lift on the wing for the flight segment; and cause adjustment of at least one of the first fan speed and the second fan speed based at least in part on the control command such that a pressure ratio of an air pressure below the wing to an air pressure above the top surface is changed to optimize the lift. generate a control command based at least in part on a thrust demand and a flight segment of a flight of the aircraft, the thrust demand being a request for a specific thrust output of a distributed propulsion system of the aircraft that includes the fans (162A, 172A) of the suction and pressure fan arrays (160, 170), and the control command indicating instructions for adjusting at least one of the first fan speed and the second fan speed to optimize a lift on the wing for the flight segment; and cause adjustment of at least one of the first fan speed and the second fan speed based at least in part on the control command such that a pressure ratio of an air pressure below the wing to an air pressure above the top surface is changed to optimize the lift.