Robust guidance for electro-optical missiles

A robust guidance law is presented which renders zero miss distance (ZMD) against deterministically or randomly maneuvering targets for all missile parametric uncertainties. Since the resulting guidance controller is a phase-lead network, it is mainly suitable for systems characterized by moderate glint levels such as electro-optical missiles. The structured uncertainties in missile dynamics are modeled by interval transfer functions. It is first shown that for the nominal case, when the total missile transfer function is positive real, ZMD can be obtained. When uncertainties are considered, the problem becomes design of a guidance controller which renders a family of transfer functions positive real. A new algorithm for the design of such controllers is proposed. An example illustrating a typical design procedure for a nonlinear real-life missile model is given, showing the simplicity and effectiveness of the proposed robust guidance. The main conclusion of this work is that the newly developed guidance law performs well against highly maneuvering targets and may be a suitable alternative to optimal guidance laws in low-glint systems.