A Predictor Observer for Seeker Delay in the Missile Homing Loop

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In this work, we employ a classical predictor observer for linear feedback systems to stabilize a well-known missile guidance law degraded by an optical seeker measurement delay in the near-collision course of a missile-target intercept engagement. In the framework of a canonical, planar intercept missile guidance problem, coupled with a delay in the measurement of the missile-to-target line-of-sight angle, we tailor the general formula for the predictor observer to the guidance law. We then use numerical simulations to evaluate the performance of the delaycompensated guidance law. The results indicate that for the scenario considered, the predictor observer is able to stabilize the guidance kinematics for realistic values of the measurement delay, thus encouraging further feasibility studies for using this approach in practice.