Time-Varying Linear Pursuit-Evasion Game Models with Bounded Controls

TLDR

Future end‑game interception scenarios of autonomous unmanned vehicles are expected to involve variable velocities and lateral acceleration limits. The paper presents a time‑varying linear pursuit‑evade model with bounded controls to analyze such scenarios. The model is validated through simulations of a realistic ballistic missile defense scenario and a review of possible game‑space decomposition structures is provided. The time‑varying model yields a guidance law that significantly improves homing accuracy over constant‑velocity models, predicts miss distance more accurately, and shows that an agility advantage can still achieve zero miss distance even without a maneuverability advantage.

Abstract

Future end game interception scenarios of autonomous uncrewed e ying vehicles are expected to be characterized by variable velocities and lateral acceleration limits. A time-varying linear pursuit ‐evasion game model with bounded controls is presented that can be used to analyze such scenarios. The usefulness of this model is demonstrated by simulations of a realistic ballistic missile defense scenario, as an example. It is shown that a differential game guidance law derived using this time-varying model provides a signie cant improvement in the homing accuracy compared to a guidance law based on a model with constant velocities and lateral acceleration limits. Moreover, the time-varying linear model provides a much more accurate prediction of the miss distance, cone rming its validity. Also a general review of possible structures of the game space decomposition is presented. Oneofthese structuresimpliesthateven ifthepursuerdoesnot havea maneuverability advantage overtheevader, but has an agility advantage, a zero miss distance can still be achieved for some initial conditions.