Tactical ballistic missiles (TBM's) may experience severe spiral maneuvers as they reenter the earth's atmosphere. It has been estimated that these maneuvers may increase in magnitude from 1 to 10 g's as the vehicle descends in altitude from 100 to 60 kft. The maneuvers also occur within the frequency range 0.5 to 1.0 Hz. This imposes the greatest difficulty on present-day proportional navigation interceptors. To hit these targets the interceptor must possess extremely fast maneuver response characteristics. At the altitudes mentioned this is generally impossible with aerodynamic control. This study investigates the possibility of achieving the desired interceptor time constant with a combination of aerodynamic and lateral-thrust control. The basic concept involves the use of conventional aerodynamic control for most of the terminal engagement with transition to blended control as time-to-go approaches zero. As a modification to existing airframes, the feasibility of the concept depends on the peak level of the thrust required, the location of the thrust device along the missile body, and the necessary total impulse. These factors are addressed in relation to a typical tail-controlled interceptor. A simple blended-autopilot control theory is developed and the improvement in miss distance performance that results from the concept is indicated. Two of the more important findings of the study are that there is an optimum location along the missile body for the point of application of the thrust and that the time-to-go for transition from aerodynamic to blended control should approximate 0.5 sec.
Augmentation of High-Altitude Maneuver Performance of a Tail-Controlled Missile Using Lateral Thrust
1995
8 pages
Report
Keine Angabe
Englisch