Attack Missile Research Articles

Analytical game strategies for active UAV defense considering response delays

In the realm of aerial warfare, the protection of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) against adversarial threats is crucial. In order to balance the impact of response delays and the demand for onboard applications, this paper derives three analytical game strategies for the active defense of UAVs from differential game theory, accommodating the first-order dynamic delays. The targeted UAV executes evasive maneuvers and launches a defending missile to intercept the attacking missile, which constitutes a UAV-Missile-Defender (UMD) three-body game problem. We explore two distinct operational paradigms: the first involves the UAV and the defender working collaboratively to intercept the incoming threat, while the second prioritizes UAV self-preservation, with independent maneuvering away from potentially sacrificial engagements. Starting with model linearization and order reduction, the Collaborative Interception Strategy (CIS) is first derived via a linear quadratic differential game formulation. Building upon CIS, we further explore two distinct strategies: the Informed Defender Interception Strategy (IDIS), which utilizes UAV maneuvering information, and the Unassisted Defender Interception Strategy (UDIS), which does not rely on UAV maneuvering information. Additionally, we investigate the conditions for the existence of saddle point solutions and their relationship with vehicle maneuverability and response agility. The simulations demonstrate the effectiveness and advantages of the proposed strategies.

RESEARCH OF ANTİ-AİRCRAFT MİSSİLE COMPLEXES WİTH RADİO TRACKİNG SYSTEM

It should be noted that missiles with a radio tracking system are used for several purposes. Air defense systems use missiles with radio tracking systems to defend against enemy flying objects. These missiles follow the targets of the enemy's air vehicles, head towards them and destroy them. Ship missiles and defense systems use radio-guided missiles to pick off enemy missiles and aircraft. This ensures the safety of ships and the areas near them. Also, missiles with a radio tracking system can be used to hit long-range targets. This is important for quickly and accurately engaging enemy targets. Missiles with a radio tracking system are used in operational and tactical operations to carry out the command of the command and destroy targets. Space defense systems against missile attacks with radio tracking systems play an important role in tracking, analyzing and protecting enemy ballistic missiles or hypersonic munitions. These analyzes are conducted within the framework of various research and training programs. Initially, information on the position, speed and targeting of enemy missiles is collected through radio tracking sensors. In the next process, the received data is analyzed and the performance of space protection systems is evaluated according to different scenarios. During the analysis, the burning effect, interference, and other wheel factors are considered according to the distance requirement of the sensors. Also, the analysis process focuses on errors and deficiencies in the sensor. As a result, analysis data helps space defense systems work more effectively and provide appropriate responses to attack missiles. One of the important factors required in the process of processing anti-aircraft missiles guided by a modern and visionary system is that these devices should be equipped according to natural conditions and should be ready for battle at any time. The article examines space defense systems against missile attacks with radio tracking systems. In general, there are many types of anti-aircraft missile complexes equipped with a radio tracking system. As we mentioned in the article, this system of complexes is a system consisting of military and technical means that are functionally interconnected and play the role of defense against air-space vehicles. The start of the rocket process, i.e., the starting position, takes place primarily from the transport launch containers, with the subsequent activation of the engine and the launching device. This process is mainly carried out in 3 stages: Anti-aircraft missiles that take a vertical starting position and are controlled tend to the calculated rendezvous point until launch. Information about the calculated rendezvous point is entered into the headquarters in the previous period and is refined according to the movement parameters of the tracked targets during all flights. The rendezvous point, including the target coordinates, in the control areas with a certain inertial structure are entered into the anti-aircraft missile boards of the multifunctional radar stations. In this field, control teams are formed in parallel in the launch calculation machine of those anti-aircraft missiles. Here, too, the information obtained about the coordinates of the target by radio line is used in the control system. The last stage is the field of self-guidance, where the devices, which are considered the last stage of self-guidance, activate the dynamic form of the control system during the flight of anti-aircraft missiles in the direct approach of the missile to the target. Thus, energetic maneuvers are performed to eliminate target evasion. The destruction of the target takes place in two forms - by direct collision and by impacting the destruction elements of the anti-aircraft missile with the command of a non-contact detonator. Keywords: anti-aircraft, missile, radar, complex, defense, attack, radar.

The Temptation To Go Beyond Conventional Long-Range Strike

Australia is enhancing its long-range strike capabilities through purchasing Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles (TLAM) and Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM). The Defence Strategic Review (DSR) intimated the development of hypersonic weapons (Department of Defence, 2023, p. 72). These capabilities are required under the DSR to achieve the strategic outcome of deterrence through denial (Department of Defence, 2023, p. 32). But there is a temptation to take this conversation further into nuclear weapons. Conflating discussions on Nuclear-powered submarines through AUKUS, calls for nuclear power generation in Australia (Dutton, 2023), long-range strike capabilities and deterrence leads to the question—should Australia go the extra distance to have a nuclear long-range strike capability?

Cooperative guidance for active defence based on line-of-sight constraint under a low-speed ratio

AbstractIn this study, an active defence cooperative guidance (ADCG) law that enables cheap and low-speed airborne defence missiles with low manoeuverability to accurately intercept fast and expensive attack missiles with high manoeuverability was designed to enhance the capability of aircraft for active defence. This guidance law relies on the line-of-sight (LOS) guidance method, and it realises active defence by adjusting the geometric LOS relationship involving an attack missile, a defence missile and an aircraft. We use a nonlinear integral sliding surface and an improved second-order sliding mode reaching law to design the guidance law. This can not only reduce the chattering phenomenon in the guidance command, but it can also ensure that the system can reach the sliding surface from any initial position in a finite time. Simulations were carried out to verify the proposed law using four cases: different manoeuvering modes of the aircraft, different speed ratios of the attack and defence missiles, different reaching laws applied to the ADCG law and a robustness analysis. The results show that the proposed guidance law can enable a defence missile to intercept an attack missile by simultaneously using information about the relative motions of the attack missile and the aircraft. It is also highly robust in the presence of errors and noise.

Model predictive guidance for active aircraft protection from a homing missile

This paper proposes a novel guidance law based on model predictive control for protecting an aircraft from a homing missile. Considering that in the target-missile-defender engagement the attacking missile is pursuing the target aircraft by employing a known linear guidance law, a non-linear predictive model for the engagement is established. This predictive model allows converting the three-body engagement to a one-on-one engagement. The time-to-go for the defender towards the future position of the incoming missile is analytically derived, indicating that the optimal time for the defender to intercept the incoming missile is a fixed-point of a real-valued function. As a result, the optimal interception duration can be obtained by a standard fixed-point iteration method, and thus the interception point can be readily predicted via integrating the predictive model. The guidance command is generated by directly leading the defender to the predicted intercept point. Numerical simulations in different scenarios validate the algorithm to be computationally efficient, and demonstrate that the proposed strategy outperforms previous techniques in terms of miss distance, engagement duration, and the control effort.

Https://www.asianinstituteofresearch.org/JSParchives/The-CCP%E2%80%99s-Development-of-Artificial-Intelligence%3A-Impact-on-Future-Operations-

The development of artificial intelligence and related technologies has a potential serious impact on the industrial development and the military operations. The Chinese Communist Party has also classified this area as a key direction of the future development, hoping that in this new wave of military affairs innovation, under the absolute superiority of economic and military affairs, China could surpass the United States in one fell swoop, changing the world situation in which the United States is the only military superpower since the end of the Cold War. In the report of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, President Xi Jinping clearly stated that it should accelerate the development of military intelligence and strengthen the joint combat capability of the network information system, including the R&D of the innovative weapons and equipment. As Xi Jinping took over the presidency of China in 2013, he initiated the "dream of strong army". In the future, artificial intelligence is bound to be an important part of the CCP's military modernization, and it is also a foresighted preparation for winning the next war. At present, most of the CCP’s research on military development in terms of artificial intelligence tends to be on hardware devices, such as automated combat vehicles, autonomous drones and remote-controlled submarines. These related technologies rely heavily on the mechanical engineering and traditional R&D. The CCP intends to combine the development of military science and technology with the advanced weapons as a means of "killer" conception for future regional wars against the United States and other major powers. In this concept, the Communist Army will carry out paralytic asymmetrical attacks to its potential enemies. In the past, the "killer" weapons may be the attack missiles that attack large ships, but now they may include a new generation of artificial intelligence weapons that use the big data, the Internet of Things, or the cloud computing. In the face of the development of the CCP’s artificial intelligence militarization, not only we must concern about its current major developments, but also have to analyze the motives behind it, so that we can make correct judgments in the future operations to block the CCP’s media campaign and arms deterrent. This is the focus worthy of our urgent attention.

The CCP’s Development of Artificial Intelligence: Impact on Future Operations

The development of artificial intelligence and related technologies has a potential serious impact on the industrial development and the military operations. The Chinese Communist Party has also classified this area as a key direction of the future development, hoping that in this new wave of military affairs innovation, under the absolute superiority of economic and military affairs, China could surpass the United States in one fell swoop, changing the world situation in which the United States is the only military superpower since the end of the Cold War. In the report of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, President Xi Jinping clearly stated that it should accelerate the development of military intelligence and strengthen the joint combat capability of the network information system, including the R&D of the innovative weapons and equipment. As Xi Jinping took over the presidency of China in 2013, he initiated the "dream of strong army". In the future, artificial intelligence is bound to be an important part of the CCP's military modernization, and it is also a foresighted preparation for winning the next war. At present, most of the CCP’s research on military development in terms of artificial intelligence tends to be on hardware devices, such as automated combat vehicles, autonomous drones and remote-controlled submarines. These related technologies rely heavily on the mechanical engineering and traditional R&D. The CCP intends to combine the development of military science and technology with the advanced weapons as a means of "killer" conception for future regional wars against the United States and other major powers. In this concept, the Communist Army will carry out paralytic asymmetrical attacks to its potential enemies. In the past, the "killer" weapons may be the attack missiles that attack large ships, but now they may include a new generation of artificial intelligence weapons that use the big data, the Internet of Things, or the cloud computing. In the face of the development of the CCP’s artificial intelligence militarization, not only we must concern about its current major developments, but also have to analyze the motives behind it, so that we can make correct judgments in the future operations to block the CCP’s media campaign and arms deterrent. This is the focus worthy of our urgent attention.

A Model of Resource Allocation for Intercepting the Missile of Mass Destruction Considering Detection Contest

With the development of military technology, missiles have played an essential role in modern war. Particularly, missiles have become main carriers of the weapons of mass destruction to strike the objective in a long distance. Thus, it is essential for the defender to intercept the missiles launched by the attacker. However, the intelligence about the attacking missiles obtained by the defender is usually incomplete, which depends on the detection contest where the defender tries to detect the attacking missile and the attacker tries to disturb the detection. This raises a problem about how to balance a certain amount of resources onto the interception missiles and detection contest for the defender in order to minimize the damage caused by attacking missiles. Therefore, considering detection contest, a model of resource allocation for missile interception is proposed in this study. The results show that the defender can obtain the strategy with the lowest damage by adjusting the allocation of resources. This provides an analytical method to calculate the damage caused by missiles of mass destruction under the missile interception considering detection contest.

Study on the Optimal Strategy of Missile Interception

Missiles have been playing an important role in modern wars. In order to gain advantage in missile contests, the technology of missile interception have been developed for many years. However, constrained by current technology, it is still very difficult to intercept successfully. Thus, it may need to optimize the allocation of intercept missiles to prevent attack missiles from hitting targets. This paper proposes a method to optimize the missile interception strategy (intercept missile allocation) by simulating the games of missile interception, which jointly considering multiple phases, multiple targets, cost and the risk attitude of the defender. This method is developed based on combinatorial theory and cumulative prospect theory. There are two optimization goals considered: the cost and the prospect value. We studied two cases where the detection of attack missiles is perfect or imperfect respectively. Four illustrative examples are presented to illustrate the proposed method and several directions of research in future are pointed.

Cooperative guidance law for active aircraft defense with intercept angle constraint

In this paper, the three-body engagement scenario is considered where a target aircraft fires a defender missile to intercept the attacker missile. A cooperative guidance law with the intercept angle constraint for both of the defender missile and target has been presented. With the assumption that the attacker missile uses augmented proportional navigation guidance law, the nonlinear relative motion model of target-attacker-defender engagement is built. Considering the requirement of miss distance and satisfying the intercept angle constraint, the function index is established. The cooperative guidance law is derived based on optimal control theory. Moreover, given initial launch condition, the feasible intercept angle region of defender is analyzed, considering the limited maneuverability of defender and target and the intercept time constraint which means the attacker must be intercepted by the defender prior to hitting the target. Similarly, the feasible launch region of defender is obtained with the given designated intercept angle, variable overload of defender and target, and intercept time constraint. The simulation results further demonstrate that within the feasible region of designated intercept angle and launching condition, the defender can intercept the attacker with designated intercept angle successfully despite of the limited maneuverability. Compared with conventional uncooperative situation, the target-defender cooperation could significantly reduce the maneuverability requirements for the defender.

Multiple Tactical Missiles Cooperative Attack With Formation-Containment Tracking Requirement Along the Planned Trajectory

This paper studies the cooperative guidance and control problems with formation-containment tracking requirement under directed topologies for multiple tactical missiles. The states of the formation-leaders can not only keep a parallel triangle formation but also make tracks for the state trajectory generated by the tracking-leader, while the states of followers converge to the convex hull formed by those of the formation-leaders. Firstly, an integrated cooperative guidance and control framework is proposed, and combat missions are distinguished in line with tactical missiles rewarded different functions in practical applications. Then, a terminal slide mode guidance law with impact angle is presented in three-dimensional space, which ensures attack missile to attack the target in finite time. Sufficient conditions for multiple tactical missiles to achieve formation-containment tracking are derived. On the basis of Lyapunov theory, it is shown that the expected formation-containment tracking can be realized by reconnaissance and decoy missiles in the presence of the tracking-leaders’ unknown control input. In addition, in the case of unknown drag force, the six degrees of freedom missile controller is designed by combining genetic algorithm and disturbance observer to dynamically adjust the rudder deflection and thrust, ensuring stable tracking of overload command during cooperative attack. Finally, numerical simulations validate the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed results.

3D optimal defensive guidance strategy with safe distance

This work investigates the active defense problem wherein a target aircraft launches a defending missile (i.e. a defender) to intercept an attacking missile in three-dimensional (3D) space. The novelty of this work includes: adding a safe distance for the target, which protects the target from being influenced by defensive interception, and designing a new 3D defensive guidance strategy without linearization to meet different guidance requirements. The defensive guidance strategy combines the approach of analyzing 3D pursuit-evasion engagement and the optimal control to obtain the guidance law. The approach derives the analytical solutions of 3D pursuit-evasion engagement, and a fast algorithm to predict the trajectory of attacking missile is proposed based on these analytical solutions. The advantages of this guidance strategy include incorporation of the added safe distance requirement directly without hindering the ability of the optimal guidance law to meet other requirements, and straight-forward extension for advanced scenarios where multi-defenders intercept the attacking missile simultaneously from different directions. The performance of the 3D defensive guidance law is evaluated via simulations.

Optimal Cooperative Guidance Laws in a Multiagent Target–Missile–Defender Engagement

A cooperative interception scenario between a target, its defenders, and missiles attacking said target is considered. Optimal cooperative guidance laws are developed for two distinct scenarios: 1) a scenario with a missile using a known maneuver, yielding an optimal strategy for the target and its defenders; and 2) a scenario with a missile using an unknown maneuver, which is treated as a zero-sum differential game, between the team consisting of a target and its defenders and a team of the attacking missiles. From the general solutions of the two scenarios, analytical solutions are synthesized and analyzed for two cases: 1) a single target with a single defender, as well as a single attacking missile; and 2) a single target with two defenders, as well as two attacking missiles.

Toward a Solution of the Active Target Defense Differential Game

A novel pursuit-evasion differential game involving three agents is considered. An Attacker missile is pursuing a Target aircraft. The Target aircraft is aided by a Defender missile launched by, say, the wingman, to intercept the Attacker before it reaches the Target aircraft. Thus, a team is formed by the Target and the Defender which cooperate to maximize the separation between the Target aircraft and the point where the Attacker missile is intercepted by the Defender missile, while at the same time the Attacker tries to minimize said distance. A long-range Beyond Visual Range engagement which is in line with current CONcepts of OPeration is envisaged, and it is therefore assumed that the players have simple motion kinematics a la Isaacs. Also, the speed of the Attacker is equal to the speed of the Defender and the latter is interested in point capture. It is also assumed that at all time the Attacker is aware of the Defender’s position, i.e., it is a perfect information game. The analytic/closed-form solution of the target defense pursuit-evasion differential game delineates the state space region where the Attacker can reach the Target without being intercepted by the Defender, thus disposing of the Game of Kind. The target defense Game of Degree is played in the remaining state space. The analytic solution of the Game of Degree yields the agents’ optimal state feedback strategies, that is, the instantaneous heading angles for the Target and the Defender team to maximize the terminal separation between Target and Attacker at the instant of interception of the Attacker by the Defender, and also the instantaneous optimal heading for the Attacker to minimize said separation. Their calculation hinges on the real-time solution of a quartic equation. In this paper we contribute to the solution of a differential game with three states—an additional example to the, admittedly small, repertoire of pursuit-evasion differential games in 3-D which can be solved in closed form.

Active target defence differential game: fast defender case

A particularproblem in aerospace control and applications is the active target defence differential game (ATDDG), where an attacker missile tries to capture a target aircraft which is significantly slower than the attacker. A third agent is a defender missile which is fired by the Target's wingman. The defender's mission is to intercept the attacker in time to enable a successful target evasion and its survival. The problem is naturally posed as a zero-sum DG. The target and the defender form a team; their objective is to determine a cooperative strategy to maximise the terminal separation between the target aircraft and the point where the Attacker missile is intercepted by the Defender missile. The Attacker is the opposition and its task is to devise its own strategy to minimise the same terminal distance. The solution of the ATDDG provides the instantaneous optimal heading angles for each agent playing the game in order to achieve their objectives. Most importantly, the agents' strategies are state feedback laws. The assumption of simple motion dynamics of the agents yields their optimal headings which is adequate in a beyond visual range engagement, as it is currently envisioned to be the pertinent operational scenario.

Aircraft Defense Differential Game with Non-Zero Capture Radius

An aircraft defense differential game is analyzed where a Target aircraft and a Defender missile team up to defeat an Attacker missile. The Attacker pursues the (slower) Target which evades the Attacker with the help of the Defender, which is endowed with a non-zero capture radius. The Target and the Defender cooperate in a way that the Defender intercepts the Attacker before the latter reaches the Target. The payoff functional is the distance between the Target and the Attacker at the interception time which the Attacker strives to minimize and the Target/Defender team strives to maximize. The work in this paper generalizes existing results to consider a non-zero capture radius as opposed to the limiting case of point capture.

The Target Differential Game with Two Defenders

A cooperative aircraft differential game where an Attacker missile pursues an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) herein called the Target is addressed. The Target UAV cooperates with up to two Defender missiles which are launched in order to intercept the Attacker before the latter reaches the Target. This is a scenario with important military applications where each one of the agents is an autonomous air vehicle. Each agent plans and corrects its course of action in order to defeat an opposing force while simultaneously optimizing an operational relevant cost/payoff performance measure. The Target and the Defenders cooperate to form a team against the Attacker. The results in this paper build on the solution of a three agent differential game, where the three players are the Target, the Attacker, and one Defender; in this paper, the benefits of firing a second Defender are considered. Indeed, launching two interceptor missiles is a standard procedure by providing redundant backup. Building on the solution of the one-Defender problem, it is possible to address a seemingly intractable problem, where the Target needs to decide which Defender(s) to cooperate with, in addition to obtaining the optimal headings of every player in the game. Given the initial positions of the players, we solve the problem of determining if a second Defender improves the Target/Defender(s) payoff and provide the optimal strategies for each of the agents involved. Finally, we address the game of kind (for the case of one Defender) which provides the safety regions to determine which side will win based on the initial state. These safety regions provides the Target’s area of vulnerability, and using these results, we describe the reduction to the Target’s vulnerability area brought by an additional Defender.

Active target defense using first order missile models

In this note the active target defense scenario is analyzed. This entails a Target aircraft being pursued by an Attacker missile while a Defender missile is launched by the Target or by a Target-friendly platform to intercept the Attacker missile. The missiles are modeled using first order dynamics and implement Pure Pursuit guidance laws but are subject to turning rate constraints. The Target’s optimal heading is obtained such that the Defender intercepts the Attacker and the terminal Target/Attacker separation is maximized. This work offers more realistic results compared to previous work where simple motion kinematics were used, that is, it was assumed that the missiles are able to turn infinitely fast.

Optimal cooperative guidance with guaranteed miss distance in three-body engagement

The three-body engagement where a target aircraft protects itself by using a cooperative defender missile to intercept an attacking missile is investigated. It is formulated as a constrained linear quadratic optimal problem. Two different optimal cooperative guidance laws for the target and defender are proposed in two cooperation schemes. Since any control effort to reduce the miss distance to smaller than missile’s lethal radius is wasted, the guidance laws are derived to achieve an upper bound on the missile–defender miss distance. In the two-way cooperation scheme, the target and the defender act as a team. How the target makes a trade-off between aiding the defender and evading the missile is investigated by considering both the missile–target zero-effort miss distance and the control effort into the cost function. Without the penalty weight on the missile–target zero-effort miss distance, the two-way minimum control effort guidance laws are available. In the one-way cooperation scheme, the target uses a known evasion strategy independently. The optimal cooperative guidance law is derived for minimizing the control effort of the defender. Simulation results show that these proposed guidance laws can provide a specified missile–defender miss distance and save the control effort compared with the zero-miss-distance guidance law. Two-way cooperation scheme outperforms one-way cooperation scheme.

Cooperative Nonlinear Guidance Strategies for Aircraft Defense

This paper presents nonlinear guidance strategies for scenarios where an aircraft launches a defender missile as a countermeasure against an incoming attacking missile. The guidance system offers an additional degree of freedom due to two available controls, the lateral accelerations of defender and aircraft. This extra degree of freedom is used in various ways to design guidance strategies. These guidance strategies, in addition to each ensuring interception of missile, also individually allow: 1) to reduce sensitivity of guidance law to erroneous time-to-go estimates, 2) the aircraft to perform optimal evasive maneuvers, and 3) either of the aircraft or the defender to maneuver independently with their maximum limit small as compared to that of missile. The design of guidance strategies is performed in a nonlinear framework, using sliding-mode control technique, with relevant zero-effort miss variables as switching surfaces. For reduction of sensitivity against time-to-go, an additional zero-effort velocity switching surface is proposed. Simulations are presented to validate the efficacy of the proposed guidance strategies and their superior performance compared to existing classical guidance laws. The protection envelopes, which depict the variations of minimum aircraft–missile distance with respect to heading angle of missile, to ensure successful interception, are also obtained.