Three-dimensional optimal impact time guidance for antiship missiles

Introduction: The primary objective of missile guidance laws is to drive the missile to intercept a specific target with zero miss distance. Proportional navigation guidance (PNG) has been proved to be an efficient and simple guidance algorithm for missile systems, thus showing wide applications in the past few decades [1]. The optimality of PNG was analyzed in [2] and its extension to three-dimensional (3D) scenario can be found at [3]. In the context of modern warfare, many high-value battleships, like destroyers and aircraft carriers, are equipped with powerful self-defense systems against anti-ship missiles [4]. In order to penetrate these formidable defensive systems, the concept of salvo attack or simultaneous attack was introduced: many missiles are required to hit a battleship simultaneously, albeit their di.erent initial locations. One typical solution of simultaneous attack is impact time control guidance. Generally, impact time control can be classified into two categories: (1) specify the desired impact time and control each missile to satisfy the desired impact time constraint individually; and (2) synchronize the impact time either in a distributed or decentralized fashion through a communication network among all interceptors.