Distributed cooperative guidance for multiple missiles

Cooperative guidance problems for multiple missiles with directed interaction topologies are dealt with. Firstly, a two-step guidance strategy is presented to realize cooperative simultaneous attack. In the first step, a cooperative guidance method is used for multiple missiles to reach consensus asymptotically. During the second step, the multiple missiles disconnect with each other and reach the target independently with proportional navigation guidance law. Then by feedback linearization, the cooperative guidance problem is transformed into the consensus problem for second-order systems. Considering the limited communication capabilities, a distributed cooperative guidance law is developed to make the range-to-go and lead angel of multiple missiles to achieve consensus. Sufficient condition for multiple missiles to realize cooperative attacking with directed interaction topologies is further derived. It is shown that the requirement on communication/sensing network is relaxed and the multiple missiles can achieve cooperative attacking autonomously. Finally, simulation examples are given to verify the effectiveness of the two-step guidance strategy.