On the need for integrated estimation/guidance design for hit-to-kill accuracy

Separate designs of the estimator and the guidance law of an interceptor missile are, at best, suboptimal. This paper describes an innovative first step towards an integrated design. In order to cope with random target maneuvers, a set of feasible random maneuvers is selected. For each maneuver, a suitable estimator/guidance law combination is designed. The interception endgame is divided into two phases. During the initial phase, the actual target maneuver model is identified and a suitable estimator/guidance law combination is used in the terminal phase. The innovative feature of the new approach, tested by Monte Carlo simulations of a planar benchmark scenario, is the explicit use of the time-to-go information in the selection of the estimator/guidance law combination.