Application of an extended Kalman filter to an advanced fire control system

An extended Kalman filter is developed to aid the tracking of an air-to-air missile from a maneuvering target aircraft. The filter exploits knowledge of the dominant aerodynamically induced lift and drag forces of a nonthrusting missile employing proportional navigation guidance. The filter provides both dynamic tracking estimates in a local inertial frame and estimates of pertinent parameters including the proportional navigation constant. Initial research has established the feasibility of this modelling approach to tracking filter development, and current efforts are fully exploring its performance capabilities. The objective is a filter that will provide both accurate, robust tracking estimates and meaningful threat predictive capabilities.