Bounded Differential Game Guidance Law for Interceptor Missiles with Aero Fins and Reaction Jets

Abstract

A differential game guidance law for an endoatmospheric interceptor missile steered by aero fins and reaction jets is developed in this paper with bounded controls. For a low-altitude endoatmospheric interceptor, the propellant of the reaction-jet control system (RCS) is restricted by the missile configuration. Considering propellant limits, the effect of the RCS thrust on homing performance is investigated through game space structures. Also, to use the RCS at an appropriate timing, game space decomposition is used to determine the initiating time of the RCS. Finally, the effectiveness of the guidance law is demonstrated by a realistic ballistic missile defense scenario. It is shown that the proposed guidance law provides a significant improvement in homing accuracy compared to the conditional one. Furthermore, under propellant limits, a bigger RCS thrust cannot guarantee a higher homing accuracy.

Bounded Linear-Quadratic Differential Game Guidance Law for Dual-Thruster Controlled Missiles

“…(54)), which is the optimal evasive strategy yielded from the bounded differential game 8,9,11,12) and represents the worst case.…”

“…19) Two formulations 20) are studied for the linear-quadratic differential game associated with a trajectory-shaped interception phase of the interceptor. In recent papers, [7][8][9][10][11] the direct lift was taken into account by using a first-order biproper transfer function (TF). In this paper, the two channels of the dual-thruster controlled missile have different structures, so the missile's closed-loop dynamics are represented by a first-order biproper TF for the attitude-thruster control system, and a strictly proper one for the divert-thruster control system, respectively.…”

“…8,11,[14][15][16] Such formulation of a scenario with the assumption of ideal dynamics of two players 17) was investigated and later extended to include first-order pursuer dynamics 18) and evader dynamics. 19) Two formulations 20) are studied for the linear-quadratic differential game associated with a trajectory-shaped interception phase of the interceptor.…”

“…10) However these studies mainly looked at the air-to-air interception at low altitude, where the aerodynamic lift is sufficient to generate the divert acceleration. A bounded differential game guidance law 11) approach was developed for a low-altitude endoatmospheric interceptor with a forward reaction control system (RCS) and aerodynamic tail control surfaces. Considering the propellant limit, the magnitude of the RCS thrust and the initiating time of RCS have been studied and the results show that the proposed guidance law provides a significant improvement in homing accuracy.…”

“…The target is approximated by a first-order strictly proper TF. [7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14] However, if the target maneuvering acceleration is generated by aerodynamic lift, the control effort directly affects the divert acceleration. Thus, in this paper, the target maneuvering dynamics are approximated by a first-order biproper TF.…”