Model predictive guidance for active aircraft protection from a homing missile

Abstract

This paper proposes a novel guidance law based on model predictive control for protecting an aircraft from a homing missile. Considering that in the target-missile-defender engagement the attacking missile is pursuing the target aircraft by employing a known linear guidance law, a non-linear predictive model for the engagement is established. This predictive model allows converting the three-body engagement to a one-on-one engagement. The time-to-go for the defender towards the future position of the incoming missile is analytically derived, indicating that the optimal time for the defender to intercept the incoming missile is a fixed-point of a real-valued function. As a result, the optimal interception duration can be obtained by a standard fixed-point iteration method, and thus the interception point can be readily predicted via integrating the predictive model. The guidance command is generated by directly leading the defender to the predicted intercept point. Numerical simulations in different scenarios validate the algorithm to be computationally efficient, and demonstrate that the proposed strategy outperforms previous techniques in terms of miss distance, engagement duration, and the control effort.

Three dimensional cooperative guidance for intercepting a manoeuvering target

“…Other results can be found in refs. [4,8,[21][22][23], where the optimal controller is given in a fixed form and stability can be easily proven using Lyapunov methods.…”

Multi-Constrained Geometric Guidance Law with a Data-Driven Method

“…For example, an impact angle constraint should be imposed for the UAVs to approach the target from a specified direction in some cases [1][2][3][4]. When multiple UAVs need to be gathered in a formation, the impact time should be coordinated [5][6][7][8]. Three performance indicators, namely miss distance, impact time, and impact angle, should be satisfied simultaneously during cluster flight.…”

B‐spline based on vector extension improved CST parameterization algorithm

“…[25][26][27] Because the shape of the aircraft needs constant modification in the overall design phase, it has become a must-be-solved problem as to how to quickly generate the three-dimensional shape model of the aircraft and realize it in a precise and complete way. [28][29][30][31] The Class and Shape Transformation (CST) method put forward by Kulfan 32,33 has gained a wide application due to its features such as excellent robustness and smooth geometric description capacity. The main idea of the CST method is to control the shape using the Class Function and the Shape Function.…”

“…Hence the first step of the shape design of the aircraft is to employ a proper parameterization method to generate a basic aircraft shape 25‐27 . Because the shape of the aircraft needs constant modification in the overall design phase, it has become a must‐be‐solved problem as to how to quickly generate the three‐dimensional shape model of the aircraft and realize it in a precise and complete way 28‐31 …”