48 Guidance of Missiles/NPTEL/2012/D.

Ghose

Module 3: Lecture 8
Standard Terminologies in Missile Guidance

Keywords. Latax, Line-of-Sight (LOS), Miss-Distance, Time-to-Go, Fire-and-Forget,

Glint Noise, Collision Triangle

4.3 Some Standard Terminologies in Missile Guidance

One often comes across a number of standard terms in the literature on missile
guidance. In this section we will define many of these terms precisely.

Lateral Acceleration: This is also known as latax. This is the acceleration that the missile
needs to apply in order to achieve a desired turn rate. It is called lateral acceleration
since it is usually applied in a direction close to the normal to the missile longitudinal
axis or the missile velocity vector. In fact, the guidance command generated by the
guidance law is usually expressed as a lateral acceleration term. This is called the
commanded latax and is given as an input to the lateral autopilots. Since the autopilots
are essentially dynamical systems subject to time delay, the actual achieved latax is a
time-varying quantity and is different from the commanded latax at any moment in
time. This difference may also occur due to the saturation effect since the missile may
not be able to pull a very high commanded latax.

Line-of-Sight (LOS) Rate: During a missile-target engagement the imaginary line joining
the missile and the target at any given instant in time is called the instantaneous
line-of-sight or the LOS. This line changes in length and orientation as the engagement
proceeds. The change in its angular orientation is given by its angular velocity or rate
of turn and is usually expressed in units of radians/sec. This is called the LOS rate.

Closing Velocity: This is the velocity with which the missile closes on to the target.
Obviously this is given by the rate at which the length of the LOS or the LOS separation
shrinks. Hence, it is the negative of the rate of change of the LOS separation or range
Guidance of Missiles/NPTEL/2012/D.Ghose 49

M4
T4
Miss-Distance
M
3 T
3

LOS -- Line-of-Sight
M T2
2
T1
M1
LOS

Figure 4.7: Miss-distance

rate. It is also the doppler relative velocity of the target with respect to the missile along
the line-of-sight. Note that the doppler relative velocity is positive when the target is
approaching and negative when it is receding.

Miss Distance: This is the distance of closest approach of the missile to the target. When
the missile directly hits the target, the miss distance is zero. But when the missile
passes close to the target the miss distance is non-zero. In this case the proximity
fuze detonates the warhead and the engagement comes to an end. Obviously, the
primary objective of a guidance system is to minimize the miss-distance. Also note
that the miss-distance is a non-negative quantity. Consider Figure 4.7 which shows the
trajectories of a missile and a target, and also the miss- distance. It also shows the LOS
at different instants in time, including the LOS at the instant of closest approach. The
length of the LOS at this instant gives the miss-distance. Now, what distinguishes this
LOS from all the other LOSs? It can be easily deduced that the closing velocity at this
instant is zero. The closing velocity before this instant is positive and after this instant
is negative.

Time-to-Go : The time-to-go is an important trajectory parameter which is used for the
50 Guidance of Missiles/NPTEL/2012/D.Ghose

implementation of many advanced guidance laws. Suppose we record the trajectory

data of a missile-target engagement and find that the engagement ends with an inter-
ception at time tf (final time). Note that interception is assumed to have taken place
when either the missile directly hits the target or at the time of closest approach. Now,
at any given instant in time t during the engagement the time-to-go is defined as the
time remaining till interception and is given by (tf − t). It is usually denoted as tgo .
This value is the actual time-to-go which is known only after the engagement is over.
But, to implement the guidance law, we need to estimate the tgo during the engage-
ment. There are many ways by which this can be done. One of the ways, based on the
available instantaneous information, is to use the formula,

R
t̂go = (4.1)
(−Ṙ)

where, t̂go is the estimated time-to-go and R is the LOS separation or the distance
between the target and the missile at that instant in time. This is not a very accurate
method of estimating the tgo , but for some limited cases it is satisfactory. For instance,
it is accurate when we consider the collision triangle. There are other more accurate,
but complicated, ways of finding the tgo also.

Blind Zone: In a homing guidance system the seeker has to keep pointing towards the
target in order to track it. However, during the last part of the terminal phase the
missile could be pointing in such a direction that the seeker has to turn by a very large
angle to keep the target within its field of view. However, seeker turn angle is subject
to mechanical limitations. Hence, it may not be possible for the seeker to turn by such
a large angle. In this case the seeker loses track of the target and cannot see it any more.
This part of the missile trajectory is called the blind zone for the missile. This is shown
in Figure 4.8. There is no information input from the seeker during this phase and the
guidance system has to depend on previous information.

LOBL - Lock On Before Launch: In this mode the launch platform radar performs the
search and acquisition functions and sends target position information to the missile
seeker, directing it to lock on to the target before the missile is launched. However, this
is normally an impractical procedure because of the following factors:
Guidance of Missiles/NPTEL/2012/D.Ghose 51

Target

Target
Target
Trajectory

Signal Beam

Antenna View Zone

Blind
Zone

Missile

Figure 4.8: Blind zone in the terminal homing phase

• The missile seeker may suffer interference due to the signals emanating from the
launch platform radar.

• It is difficult for the missile guidance system to track the target when the missile is
experiencing a high acceleration during the boost phase that occurs immediately
after the launch.

• The target may not be in the field-of-view of the missile seeker before launch.

LOAL - Lock On After Launch: This is a more complex procedure than LOBL. The
missile has to be provided with the target information to enable the missile seeker to
acquire the target. Even then the missile must go through the process of search and
acquisition.

Fire-and-Forget or Launch-and-Leave: This refers to those missiles that have the capabil-
ity to reach their targets after launch in the absence of any support from the launch
platform or the operator.

Glint Noise: A target such as an aircraft has many radar reflector surfaces. The net
return from these surfaces can be modelled as a movement of the apparent radar
 52 Guidance of Missiles/NPTEL/2012/D.Ghose

γm - MISSILE BODY ANGLE

θ - LOS ANGLE
θm - MEASURED LOS ANGLE
ε - BORESIGHT ERROR ANGLE
θ r - ABERRATION ANGLE
θh - GIMBAL ANGLE APPARENT
TARGET
apparent
object TARGET
SEEKER
AXIS
line θr
tre
cen ε BODY
er
ek θh AXIS
se ngle object
frac tion a
r = re
refracting surface
θm

γm
θ
seeker
non-rotating reference

Figure 4.9: Radome error and the virtual target

position and is typically modelled as a Gaussian random variable with zero mean and
some non-zero variance. This is called glint noise.

Radome Error: The missile seeker is used to track the target by processing the reflected
signal from it. The radome that covers the missile seeker (in a homing guided missile)
causes deterioration to the angle of the incoming signal due to refraction (in fact, due
to this the radome has to be designed not only from the aerodynamic point of view but
also from the viewpoint of electromagnetic considerations). Because of this the missile
seeker actually tracks a virtual target whose position is shifted from the actual position
of the target. This can be seen from Figure 4.9.

Heading Error: The heading error is the difference in angle between the actual missile
velocity vector and the angle required by the missile velocity vector to satisfy the col-
lision geometry conditions. This parameter is an important performance measure for
missiles that follow the mixed guidance scheme and have to transit from a command
phase to a homing phase.

Factors affecting miss-distance: There are many factors that affect the performance of the
missile and its guidance law in terms of miss-distance. The main among these are

• Target maneuver
Guidance of Missiles/NPTEL/2012/D.Ghose 53

Very
high
altitude

High
altitude

Medium C
altitude
B

Low
altitude A

Range

A - Target maneuver
B - Glint noise
C - Heading error at transition
D - Missile response/Receiver noise/Radome error

Figure 4.10: Factors affecting miss-distance

• Glint noise

• Heading error at transition

• Missile response

• Receiver noise

• Radome error

These factors affect miss-distance differently depending on the altitude and range of
the target. This is shown in Figure 4.10.

4.4 The Kinematic Equations

The kinematic equations for the missile-target engagement, assuming point mass mod-
els for the missile and the target, are given below with reference to Figure 4.11.

VR = Ṙ = VT cos(αT − θ) − VM cos(αM − θ) (4.2)

Vθ = Rθ̇ = VT sin(αT − θ) − VM sin(αM − θ) (4.3)

54 Guidance of Missiles/NPTEL/2012/D.Ghose

V
T

αΤ
θ
T
R

V
M LOS
αM

θ
Reference
M

Figure 4.11: Missile-target engagement geometry

Here, VT and VM are the target and missile velocities, and R is the distance from the
missile to the target (LOS separation). Usually VM > VT . The quantities VR and Vθ are
very important for us – they are the components of the relative velocity (of the target
with respect to the missile) along the LOS and normal to the LOS, respectively. We shall
have occasion to use these quantities quite often in the later part of our lectures. The
missile employs a lateral acceleration aM to turn the missile in an appropriate direction.
Note that θ̇ is the LOS rate and Ṙ is the rate of change of the LOS separation. Also, the
closing velocity Vc is given by,
Vc = −Ṙ (4.4)

Equations (4.2) and (4.3) do not form the complete set of kinematic equations. The
complete set will consist of equations modelling the variations in αM , αT , θ, VM , and
VT . Integrating these equations with respect to time from some given initial conditions
will give the complete trajectory of this system of equations.

4.5 The Collision Geometry

The collision geometry or the collision triangle is the most fundamental concept in guid-
ance law design. In this section, we will take a closer look at it and try to pin down
what the collision triangle means in terms of some basic guidance parameters. See
Figure 4.12 which shows the collision triangle.
 Guidance of Missiles/NPTEL/2012/D.Ghose 55

C (collision point)

Actual V
M V
M
Heading V
T
error Component
normal to LOS
M Instantaneous LOS T
Component along LOS

Figure 4.12: The collision triangle

Essentially the collision triangle defines the trajectories of the missile and the target
when they culminate in an intercept, while both the vehicles are moving with constant
speeds and in straight-line trajectories. This implies that the LOS does not rotate in
space and so in (4.3) we have Vθ = 0. Also, since the missile and target speeds and
directions of flight are constant, in (4.2) VR remains a constant negative quantity. These
two together ensure that the engagement ends up in a successful interception of the
target by the missile. So, for the conditions of the collision geometry to be satisfied we
must have
Vθ = 0, VR < 0 (4.5)

Note also that Vθ = 0 implies that the component of the target velocity perpendicular
to the LOS is equal to the component of the missile velocity perpendicular to the LOS.

4.6 Capturability

Capturability or interceptability is another fundamental notion in the performance eval-

uation of guidance laws. The primary objective of any missile is to intercept the target,
all other performance measures are secondary to it. So it stands to reason that we
56 Guidance of Missiles/NPTEL/2012/D.Ghose

condition space Guidance Law C

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Guidance Law D

Figure 4.13: The capture region

would like to identify all the initial conditions in the state space from which a missile
can capture the target using a given guidance law. As we shall see in later chapters, the
performance of guidance laws are limited by many factors. Because of this, a particular
guidance law may be able to capture from a given set of initial conditions while it may
fail to do so from another. A schematic representation of this is given in Figure 4.13.

The region in the state space or initial condition space, from which the missile is
able to capture the target with a given guidance law (that is, the collection of those
points in the initial condition space which satisfy the requirements of capturability) is
called the capture region. The capture regions of two guidance laws may intersect, may
form a subset or superset of each other, or may be totally disjoint. But based on the
shape and size of the capture region we can derive many important observations re-
garding the suitability of the guidance law.

In our subsequent analysis we will try to express the capture region in the initial
condition space of the relative velocities VR and Vθ . We shall also show that this is the
most natural representation of capturability, from the viewpoint of kinematics. I should
also point out that the capture region we will obtain are those which will be based
on purely theoretical considerations. Although they help us to draw many important
and useful conclusions the actual capture region will be modified further (and will
Guidance of Missiles/NPTEL/2012/D.Ghose 57

be perhaps smaller) if we take into account other realistic factors like latax saturation,
constraints on fuel, and atmospheric conditions.

4.7 Concluding Remarks

In this chapter I have tried to introduce some of the fundamental concepts and termi-
nologies used in the guidance literature. These will help us to go deeper into the design
and actual working of several guidance laws and help us to understand them better.

Questions

In all the following questions, sketch a figure, if it helps you to explain the concept
better.

1. Define commanded lateral acceleration and achieved lateral acceleration. Why are
they different?

2. Define LOS angular rate. Write down the expression.

3. Define closing velocity. Write down the expression. When is the closing velocity
positive and when is it negative?

4. What is miss distance?

5. What is time-to-go? How is it usually computed? When is this computation accu-

rate?

6. What is blind zone and when does it occur?

7. Define (a) LOBL (b) LOAL (c) Fire-and-forget (d) Glint noise.

8. What are radome error and heading error?

9. What are the factors that affect miss distance? What values of altitude and range
make these factors relatively more important?

10. Sketch a missile-target engagement geometry and write down the kinematic equa-
tions that govern the evolution of this system in time.
58 Guidance of Missiles/NPTEL/2012/D.Ghose

11. What is the relative velocity space?

12. What is a collision triangle and what are its features?

13. Define capturability in general and capturability in the relative velocity space.

References

1. C.-F. Lin: Modern Navigation, Guidance, and Control Processing, Prentice Hall, Engle-
wood Cliffs, NJ, 1991.