Cooperative guidance law for intercepting a hypersonic target with impact angle constraint

The cooperative guidance problem of multiple inferior missiles intercepting a hypersonic target with the specific impact angle constraint in the two-dimensional plane is addressed in this paper, taking into consideration variations in a missile’s speed. The guidance law is designed with two subsystems: the direction of line-of-sight (LOS) and the direction of normal to LOS. In the direction of LOS, by applying the algebraic graph theory and the consensus theory, the guidance command is designed to make the system convergent in a finite time to satisfy the goal of cooperative interception. In the direction of normal to LOS, the impact angle is constrained to transform into the LOS angle at the time of interception. In view of the difficulty of measuring unknown target acceleration information in real scenarios, the guidance command is designed by utilising a super-twisting algorithm based on a nonsingular fast-terminal sliding mode (NFTSM) surface. Numerical simulation results manifest that the proposed guidance law performs efficiently and the guidance commands are free of chattering. In addition, the overall performance of this guidance law is assessed with Monte Carlo runs in the presence of measurement errors. The simulation results demonstrate that the robustness can be guaranteed, and that overall efficiency and accuracy in intercepting the hypersonic target are achieved.

Impact angle guidance law to prevent the detection degradation of a seeker

An impact angle control guidance (IACG) law applicable to a homing missile equipped with a strapdown imaging seeker is investigated against a stationary target. Given an impact angle constraint, usually a detour is generated and the change of the look angle is inevitable. A rapid change of the look angle can cause a fast relative target motion in the seeker’s image plane, which can lead to a motion blur effect. The main contribution of the paper is that an IACG law is designed to minimize the look angle rate to prevent the loss of the target signal. Based on the variational approach, the optimal look angle rate that satisfies the impact angle constraint is derived, and the guidance law is designed to follow the optimal look angle rate. Using various weighting functions, a guidance law that has low sensitivity to the initial condition is also developed. Numerical simulation supports the performance of the guidance law. The result illustrates that the proposed guidance law reduces the rate of look angle in comparison with other IACG laws.

Optimal Guidance Law with Impact-Angle Constraint and Acceleration Limit for Exo-Atmospheric Interception

This paper aims to develop an optimal guidance law for exo-atmospheric interception, in which impact-angle constraint and acceleration limit are considered. Firstly, an optimal control problem with constraints on terminal miss and impact-angle is formulated, in which the control energy performance index is weighted by a power function of the time-to-go. The closed-loop guidance command, which is expressed as a linear combination of zero-effort miss distance and the zero-effort angle error, is derived using a traditional order reduction transformation. Then, an analytical solution to the maximal acceleration during the flight is obtained by analyzing the boundary points and critical points of the guidance command curve. It is found that the maximal acceleration is a function of the weighted gain in the performance index. Therefore, the maximal acceleration can be efficiently limited by using the variable weighted gain. Furthermore, the relationship between the total control energy and the weighted gain is studied. As a result, a systematic method is proposed for selecting the weighted gain so as to meet the constraint of the acceleration while the total control energy is minimal. Nonlinear simulations have been carried out to test the performance of the proposed method. The results show that this method performs well in intercepting the maneuvering target with a negligible miss distance and intercept angle error. And it can tolerate a stricter acceleration limit in comparison with the typical method.

Studies on Multi-Constraints Cooperative Guidance Method Based on Distributed MPC for Multi-Missiles

Cooperative terminal guidance with impact angle constraint is a key technology to achieve a saturation attack and improve combat effectiveness. The present study envisaged cooperative terminal guidance with impact angle constraint for multiple missiles. In this pursuit, initially, the three-dimensional cooperative terminal guidance law with multiple constraints was studied. The impact time cooperative strategy of virtual leader missile and follower missiles was designed by introducing virtual leader missiles. Subsequently, based on the distributed model prediction control combined with the particle swarm optimization algorithm, a cooperative terminal guidance algorithm was designed for multiple missiles with impact angle constraint that met the guidance accuracy. Finally, the effectiveness of the algorithm was verified using simulation experiments.

Fixed-time cooperative guidance for multiple missiles with impact angle constraint

For the guidance problem of multiple missiles attacking a maneuvering target simultaneously in plane, a novel fixed-time distributed cooperative guidance law with impact angle constraint is designed in this paper. The design process of distributed cooperative guidance law can be roughly divided into two parts. First, based on the nonsingular terminal sliding mode control, a cooperative guidance law on the line-of-sight (LOS) direction is developed, which can guarantee that all missiles hit the maneuvering target simultaneously. Second, another guidance law in normal direction of the LOS direction is designed to achieve the fixed-time convergence of LOS angular rate and LOS angle. Finally, numerical simulations verify the effectiveness of the proposed cooperative guidance law for different engagement scenarios.

Fixed-Time Disturbance Observer-Based Adaptive Finite-Time Guidance Law Design considering Impact Angle Constraint and Autopilot Dynamics

This paper aims to establish an effective guidance law to accomplish the interception guidance mission for a missile intercepting a target with impact angle constraint and autopilot dynamics. To achieve this purpose, a fixed-time disturbance observer-based adaptive finite-time guidance law is presented. First, a fixed-time disturbance observer (FTDO) is designed to guarantee the fast estimation of the lumped disturbance caused by the target maneuver. Then, the FTDO-based adaptive integral sliding mode backstepping (AISMB) guidance law is constructed for the interception guidance problem. Besides, several adaptive laws are established to estimate the derivative of virtual control inputs, making the “differential explosion problem” of conventional backstepping get avoided. The finite-time convergence characteristic of the closed-loop system is analyzed by utilizing the Lyapunov stability theory. Finally, the simulation examples are conducted to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed composite guidance law.