Game-Based Safe Aircraft Navigation in the Presence of Energy-Bleeding Coasting Missile

Abstract

Tactical-flight scenarios of modern combat aircraft are often executed in the presence of air-to-air or ground-to-air missile threats. One such scenario deals with a navigating aircraft that aims to intercept a nonaggressive adversary aircraft, in the presence of an energy-bleeding coasting missile that was or is launched toward the navigator. When launching of an adversary missile has been detected, the pilot is faced with a constrained optimization problem of closing the distance to the target, while avoiding the threatening missile. Here, the problem is formulated as a two-team zero-sum differential-game model between the navigator and an adversary coalition of the target and the missile. Solving this game provides an optimal controller, in a closed-loop form, which results in a safe-navigation strategy for the aircraft. The game formulation is based on modeling the missile as a dynamic shrinking obstacle. Both time and range horizons are incorporated to postpone early avoidance from the missile. The proposed approach is tested using a simulated problem. The results demonstrate the strength of the proposed method, which can support the development of an onboard real-time safe-navigation system for tactical-flight scenarios.