Reachability guidance: a novel concept to improve mid-course guidance

Reachability guidance is a new concept developed from a combination of robot and missile guidance using shortest path techniques. It has been developed to improve mid-course guidance in medium range tactical, missile to missile, engagements. This paper considers the limitations of a range of missile guidance genres in solving challenging missile to missile engagements and identifies that the ability of the missile to reach the target is a common area of uncertainty. Using the SAM versus supersonic sea-skimming ASM problem as an illustrative example, a novel technique which employs the earliest intercept line (EIL) to facilitate reachability (´R´) guidance is introduced.