Target Tracking Enhancement by Three-Dimensional Cooperative Guidance Law Imposing Relative Interception Geometry

The problem that two cooperative missiles intercept a maneuvering target while imposing a desired relative geometry is investigated in the paper. Firstly, a three-dimensional (3D) estimation model for cooperative target tracking is proposed and the observability of the missile-target range measurement is analyzed. In order to enhance the estimation performance, a two-level cooperative interception guidance architecture is proposed which combines a coordination algorithm with a novel 3D fixed-time convergent guidance law considering line of sight (LOS) angle constraints, such that the desired relative geometry can be imposed quickly and steadily by a dynamic strategy. The effectiveness and superiority of the proposed guidance law is evidenced through the numerical simulations comparing with other guidance laws.