Explicit minimum fuel intercept strategy for high-order dynamics

Abstract

An optimal fuel guidance strategy with acceleration limit is derived for interception of maneuvering targets. The guidance/control system is assumed as a linear time-varying arbitrary-order and is identical in each channel. An approximate model for drag acceleration is also considered in the solution. The optimal fuel strategy has some detrimental effects in most practical situations, if it is used entirely to the end. This strategy can be used at the beginning of the guidance phase for large initial heading errors in order to quickly reduce it with minimum effort. An explicit guidance law is then developed for minimum and nonminimum phase autopilots in order to modify the undesirable effects of the optimal fuel guidance law.