In order to improve the search efficiency of path planning algorithm for anti-ship missile, the planning space is researched based on geometric principle. The geometric gradual transformation rule of operational area is revealed when fusing the concept of operational area into the process of converse path planning, hereby, the operational area cluster is proposed to be its physical carrier. By introducing the operational area cluster into particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm, a PSO algorithm real-time restricted by operational area cluster (OACRR-PSO) is proposed. To express the operational area cluster expediently, the polar coordinates code mode is adopted in path coding. Considering the relationship between the adjoining vectors of particle, OACRR-PSO does not update all the velocity vectors of particle simultaneously in the course of optimization, which is different from conventional PSO, but updates sequentially by adopting the strategy of sequential recursion evolution. In the course of updating particle, the operational area cluster is used to restrict the position vectors of particle in exact updating area in real-time, which reduces the search space step by step to increase the convergence velocity. Simulation results indicate that the strategy of sequential recursion evolution could improve the algorithm's global search capabilities and the algorithm possesses a better convergence rate and robustness. Copyright © 2012 Acta Automatica Sinica. All rights reserved.