Integrated estimation/guidance law against exoatmospheric maneuvering targets (Q1723083)

Summary: An integrated guidance integrated estimation/guidance law is designed for exoatmospheric interceptors equipped with divert thrusters and optical seekers to intercept maneuvering targets. This paper considers an angles-only guidance problem for exoatmospheric maneuvering targets. A bounded differential game-based guidance law is derived against maneuvering targets using zero-effort-miss (ZEM). Estimators based the extended Kalman filter (EKF) and the unscented Kalman filter (UKF) are designed to estimate LOS rates that are contaminated by noise and target maneuver. Furthermore, to improve the observability of the range, an observability enhancement differential game guidance law is derived. The guidance law and the estimator are integrated together in the guidance loop. The proposed integrated estimation/guidance law has been tested in several three-dimensional nonlinear interception scenarios. Numerical simulations on a set of Monte-Carlo simulations prove the validity and superiority of the proposed guidance law in hit-to-kill interception.