Hybrid Guidance Law for Approach Angle and Time-of-Arrival Control

A new derivation of an optimal missile guidance law is presented. The guidance law derived is an extension of previously published versions of explicit guidance in that gravity compensation is incorporated in an optimal fashion. Performance of the extended guidance law is demonstrated via simulation comparisons with generalized vector explicit guidance and Kappa guidance, both of which have appeared previously in the literature. The new law is then incorporated into a hybrid guidance scheme that allows the specification and satisfaction of a desired time-of-arrival constraint. Performance of this capability is also demonstrated via simulation examples. Finally, an approach to coordinating desired times of arrival among a group of cooperating missiles to achieve simultaneous target intercepts or missile rendezvous is presented.