Optimal Guidance Laws with Terminal Impact Angle Constraint

TLDR

The authors generalize optimal guidance laws for arbitrary missile dynamics, express the command as a linear combination of ramp and step responses, derive state‑feedback laws for lag‑free and first‑order lag systems, propose practical time‑to‑go calculations accounting for path curvature, and validate performance with nonlinear and adjoint simulations. Optimal guidance laws in the form of state‑feedback for lag‑free and first‑order lag systems are derived and their characteristics investigated.

Abstract

Optimal guidance laws providing the specified impact angle as well as zero terminal miss distance are generalized for arbitrary missile dynamics. The optimal guidance command is represented by a linear combination of the ramp and the step responses of the missile’s lateral acceleration. Optimal guidance laws in the form of the state feedback for the lag-free and the first-order lag system are derived, and their characteristics are investigated. Practical timeto-go calculation methods, which are important for the implementation of the optimal guidance laws, are proposed to consider the path curvature. Nonlinear and adjoint simulations are performed to investigate the performance of the proposed laws.