Predictive Missile Guidance with Online Trajectory Learning

  • M. Ugur Akcal Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Istanbul Technical University
  • N. Kemal Ure Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Istanbul Technical University http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2660-2141
Keywords: Predictive guidance, Trajectory learning, Tactical missile, Recursive least squares, Parameter estimation, Optimal interception

Abstract

This study presents a predictive guidance scheme for tactical missiles. The modern day targets, with improved manoeuverability, have revealed insufficient performance of the conventional guidance laws. The underlying cause of this poor performance is the reactive nature of the conventional guidance laws such as proportional navigation (PN) and pure pursuit (PP). Predictive guidance offers an alternative approach to the classical methods by taking proactive actions by estimating target’s future trajectory. However, most of the existing predictive guidance approaches assume that the interceptor have a model of the target dynamics. A guidance strategy is developed in this study, that can learn the target dynamics iteratively and adapt the interceptor actions accordingly. A recursive least squares (RLS) estimation algorithm is employed for learning and estimating the possible future target positions, and a fixed horizon nonlinear program is employed for selecting the optimal interception action. Monte-Carlo simulations show that the guidance algorithm introduced in this work demonstrates a significantly improved performance compared to the alternatives in terms of interception time and miss distance.

Author Biographies

M. Ugur Akcal, Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Istanbul Technical University

Mr Mehmet Ugur Akcal is graduated from Mechanical Engineering and Aeronautical Engineering departments in 2014 and 2015. Currently doing MSc in Istanbul Technical University, in the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics. He has been working as a research assistant in Controls and Avionics Laboratory since 2015. His research interests are : Missile guidance, nonlinear control and stochastic processes.

N. Kemal Ure, Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Istanbul Technical University
Prof. Nazim Kemal Ure received his PhD in Aeronautics and Astronautics from Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2015. He joined the Aeronautical Engineering department of Istanbul Technical University as an Assistant Professor. His research interests are data driven decision making in air transportation systems, multiagent learning and control of agile autonomous vehicles.
Published
2017-04-25
How to Cite
Akcal, M., & Ure, N. (2017). Predictive Missile Guidance with Online Trajectory Learning. Defence Science Journal, 67(3), 332-339. https://doi.org/10.14429/dsj.67.10657
Section
Missile Systems