Missile guidance

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Missile guidance refers to a variety of methods of guiding

a missile or a guided bomb to its intended target. The
missile's target accuracy is a critical factor for its
effectiveness. Guidance systems improve missile accuracy
by improving its "Single Shot Kill Probability" (SSKP),
which is part of combat survivability calculations
associated with the salvo combat model.[1][2]

These guidance technologies can generally be divided up

into a number of categories, with the broadest categories
being "active," "passive" and "preset" guidance. Missiles
and guided bombs generally use similar types of guidance
system, the difference between the two being that missiles
are powered by an onboard engine, whereas guided bombs
rely on the speed and height of the launch aircraft for
propulsion.

Contents
1 History
2 Categories of guidance systems
3 GOT systems
3.1 Remote control guidance
3.1.1 Command to Line-Of-Sight
(CLOS)
3.1.1.1 Manual Command to
Line-Of-Sight
(MCLOS)
3.1.1.2 Semi-Manual Command
to Line-Of-Sight
(SMCLOS)
3.1.1.3 Semi-Automatic
Command to Line-Of-
Sight (SACLOS)
3.1.1.4 Automatic Command to
Line-Of-Sight (ACLOS)
3.1.2 Command Off Line-Of-Sight
(COLOS) A guided bomb strikes a practice target
3.1.3 Line-Of-Sight Beam Riding
Guidance (LOSBR)
3.2 Homing guidance
3.2.1 Proportional navigation
3.2.2 Radar homing
3.2.2.1 Active homing
3.2.2.2 Semi-active homing
3.2.3 Passive homing
3.2.4 Retransmission homing
4 GOLIS systems
4.1 Preset guidance
4.2 Inertial guidance
4.3 Astro-inertial guidance
 4.4 Terrestrial guidance
5 See also
6 References

History
The concept of missile guidance originated at least as early as World War I, with the idea of remotely guiding
an airplane bomb onto a target.

In World War II, guided missiles were first developed, as part of the German V-weapons program.[3] Project
Pigeon was American behaviorist B.F. Skinner's attempt to develop a pigeon-guided missile.

The first U.S. ballistic missile with a highly accurate inertial guidance system was the short-range Redstone. [4]

Categories of guidance systems

Guidance systems are divided into different categories according to what type of target they are designed for -
either fixed targets or moving targets. The weapons can be divided into two broad categories, Go-Onto-Target
(GOT) and Go-Onto-Location-in-Space (GOLIS) guidance systems.[5] A GOT missile can target either a
moving or fixed target, whereas a GOLIS weapon is limited to a stationary or near-stationary target. The
trajectory that a missile takes while attacking a moving target is dependent upon the movement of the target.
Also, a moving target can be an immediate threat to the sender of the missile. The target needs to be eliminated
in a timely fashion in order to preserve the integrity of the sender. In GOLIS systems the problem is simpler
because the target is not moving .

GOT systems
In every Go-Onto-Target system there are three subsystems:

Target tracker
Missile tracker
Guidance computer

The way these three subsystems are distributed between the missile and
the launcher result in two different categories:

Remote Control Guidance: The guidance computer is on Guided missile

the launcher. The target tracker is also placed on the
launching platform.
Homing Guidance: The guidance computers are in the missile and in the target tracker.

Remote control guidance

These guidance systems usually need the use of radars and a radio or wired link between the control point and
the missile; in other words, the trajectory is controlled with the information transmitted via radio or wire (see
Wire-guided missile). These systems include:

Command guidance - The missile tracker is on the launching platform. These missiles are totally
controlled by the launching platform that sends all control orders to the missile. The 2 variants are

Command to Line-Of-Sight (CLOS)

Command Off Line-Of-Sight (COLOS)
 Line-Of-Sight Beam Riding Guidance (LOSBR) - The target tracker is on board the missile. The
missile already has some orientation capability meant for flying inside the beam that the launching
platform is using to illuminate the target. It can be manual or automatic.[6]

Command to Line-Of-Sight (CLOS)

The CLOS system uses only the angular coordinates between the missile and the target to ensure the collision.
The missile is made to be in the line of sight between the launcher and the target (LOS), and any deviation of
the missile from this line is corrected. Since so many types of missile use this guidance system, they are usually
subdivided into four groups: A particular type of command guidance and navigation where the missile is
always commanded to lie on the line of sight (LOS) between the tracking unit and the aircraft is known as
command to line of sight (CLOS) or three-point guidance. That is, the missile is controlled to stay as close as
possible on the LOS to the target after missile capture is used to transmit guidance signals from a ground
controller to the missile. More specifically, if the beam acceleration is taken into account and added to the
nominal acceleration generated by the beam-rider equations, then CLOS guidance results. Thus, the beam rider
acceleration command is modified to include an extra term. The beam-riding performance described above can
thus be significantly improved by taking the beam motion into account. CLOS guidance is used mostly in
shortrange air defense and antitank systems.

Manual Command to Line-Of-Sight (MCLOS)

Both target tracking and missile tracking and control are performed manually. The operator watches the missile
flight, and uses a signaling system to command the missile back into the straight line between operator and
target (the "line of sight"). This is typically useful only for slower targets, where significant "lead" is not
required. MCLOS is a subtype of command guided systems. In the case of glide bombs or missiles against
ships or the supersonic Wasserfall against slow-moving B-17 Flying Fortress bombers this system worked, but
as speeds increased MCLOS was quickly rendered useless for most roles.

Semi-Manual Command to Line-Of-Sight (SMCLOS)

Target tracking is automatic, while missile tracking and control is manual.

Semi-Automatic Command to Line-Of-Sight (SACLOS)

Target tracking is manual, but missile tracking and control is automatic. Is similar to MCLOS but some
automatic system positions the missile in the line of sight while the operator simply tracks the target. SACLOS
has the advantage of allowing the missile to start in a position invisible to the user, as well as generally being
considerably easier to operate. It is the most common form of guidance against ground targets such as tanks and
bunkers.

Automatic Command to Line-Of-Sight (ACLOS)

Target tracking, missile tracking and control are automatic.

Command Off Line-Of-Sight (COLOS)

This guidance system was one of the first to be used and still is in service, mainly in anti-aircraft missiles. In
this system, the target tracker and the missile tracker can be oriented in different directions. The guidance
system ensures the interception of the target by the missile by locating both in space. This means that they will
not rely on the angular coordinates like in CLOS systems. They will need another coordinate which is distance.
To make it possible, both target and missile trackers have to be active. They are always automatic and the radar
has been used as the only sensor in these systems. The SM-2MR Standard is inertially guided during its mid-
course phase, but it is assisted by a COLOS system via radar link provided by the AN/SPY-1 radar installed in
the launching platform.
Line-Of-Sight Beam Riding Guidance (LOSBR)

LOSBR uses a "beam" of some sort, typically radio, radar or laser, which is pointed at the target and detectors
on the rear of the missile keep it centered in the beam. Beam riding systems are often SACLOS, but do not
have to be; in other systems the beam is part of an automated radar tracking system. A case in point is later
versions of the RIM-8 Talos missile as used in Vietnam - the radar beam was used to take the missile on a high
arcing flight and then gradually brought down in the vertical plane of the target aircraft, the more accurate
SARH homing being used at the last moment for the actual strike. This gave the enemy pilot the least possible
warning that his aircraft was being illuminated by missile guidance radar, as opposed to search radar. This is an
important distinction, as the nature of the signal differs, and is used as a cue for evasive action.

LOSBR suffers from the inherent weakness of inaccuracy with increasing range as the beam spreads out. Laser
beam riders are more accurate in this regards, but are all short-range, and even the laser can be degraded by bad
weather. On the other hand, SARH becomes more accurate with decreasing distance to the target, so the two
systems are complementary.[6]

Homing guidance

Proportional navigation

Proportional navigation (also known as PN or Pro-Nav) is a guidance law (analogous to proportional control)
used in some form or another by most homing air target missiles.[7] It is based on the fact that two objects are
on a collision course when the direction of their direct Line-of-Sight does not change. PN dictates that the
missile velocity vector should rotate at a rate proportional to the rotation rate of the line of sight (Line-Of-Sight
rate or LOS-rate), and in the same direction.

Radar homing

Active homing

Active homing uses a radar system on the missile to provide a guidance signal. Typically electronics in the
missile keep the radar pointed directly at the target, and the missile then looks at this "angle" of its own
centerline to guide itself. Radar resolution is based on the size of the antenna, so in a smaller missile these
systems are useful for attacking only large targets, ships or large bombers for instance. Active radar systems
remain in widespread use in anti-shipping missiles, and in "fire-and-forget" air-to-air missile systems such as
AIM-120 AMRAAM and R-77

Semi-active homing

Semi-active homing systems combine a passive radar receiver on the missile with a separate targeting radar that
"illuminates" the target. Since the missile is typically being launched after the target was detected using a
powerful radar system, it makes sense to use that same radar system to track the target, thereby avoiding
problems with resolution or power, and reducing the weight of the missile. Semi-active radar homing (SARH)
is by far the most common "all weather" guidance solution for anti-aircraft systems, both ground- and air-
launched.[2]

It has the disadvantage for air-launched systems that the launch aircraft must keep moving towards the target in
order to maintain radar and guidance lock. This has the potential to bring the aircraft within range of shorter-
ranged IR-guided (infrared-guided) missile systems. It is an important consideration now that "all aspect" IR
missiles are capable of "kills" from head on, something which did not prevail in the early days of guided
missiles. For ships and mobile or fixed ground-based systems, this is irrelevant as the speed (and often size) of
the launch platform precludes "running away" from the target or opening the range so as to make the enemy
attack fail.
SALH is similar to SARH but uses a laser as a signal. Another difference is that most laser-guided weapons
employ a turret-mounted laser designator which increases the launching aircraft's ability to maneuver after
launch. How much maneuvering can be done by the guiding aircraft will depend on the turret field of view and
the system's ability to maintain a lock-on while maneuvering. As most air-launched, laser-guided munitions are
employed against surface targets the designator providing the guidance to the missile need not be the launching
aircraft; designation can be provided by another aircraft or by a completely separate source (frequently troops
on the ground equipped with the appropriate laser designator).

Passive homing

Infrared homing is a passive system that homes in on the heat generated by the target. Typically used in the
anti-aircraft role to track the heat of jet engines, it has also been used in the anti-vehicle role with some success.
This means of guidance is sometimes also referred to as "heat seeking".[2]

Contrast seekers use a television camera, typically black and white, to image a field of view in front of the
missile, which is presented to the operator. When launched, the electronics in the missile look for the spot on
the image where the contrast changes the fastest, both vertically and horizontally, and then attempts to keep that
spot at a constant location in its view. Contrast seekers have been used for air-to-ground missiles, including the
AGM-65 Maverick, because most ground targets can be distinguished only by visual means. However they rely
on there being strong contrast changes to track, and even traditional camouflage can render them unable to
"lock on".

Retransmission homing

Retransmission homing, also called Track Via Missile or TVM, is a hybrid between command guidance, semi-
active radar homing and active radar homing. The missile picks up radiation broadcast by the tracking radar
which bounces off the target and relays it to the tracking station, which relays commands back to the missile.

GOLIS systems
Whatever the mechanism used in a Go-Onto-Location-in-Space guidance system is, it must contain preset
information about the target. These systems' main characteristic is the lack of a target tracker. The guidance
computer and the missile tracker are located in the missile. The lack of target tracking in GOLIS necessarily
implies Navigational Guidance.[2]

Navigational guidance is any type of guidance executed by a system without a target tracker. The other two
units are on board the missile. These systems are also known as self-contained guidance systems; however, they
are not always entirely autonomous due to the missile trackers used. They are subdivided by their missile
tracker's function as follows:

Entirely autonomous - Systems where the missile tracker does not depend on any external
navigation source, and can be divided into:

Inertial Guidance

With Gimballed gyrostabilized platform or Fluid-suspended gyrostabilized platform

With Strapdown inertial guidance

Preset Guidance

Dependent on natural sources - Navigational guidance systems where the missile tracker depends
on a natural external source:

Celestial Guidance
Astro-inertial guidance
 Terrestrial Guidance

Topographic Reconnaissance (Ex:

TERCOM)
Photographic Reconnaissance
(Ex: DSMAC)

Magnetic guidance

Dependent on artificial sources - Navigational

guidance systems where the missile tracker
depends on an artificial external source:

Satellite Navigation

Global Positioning System (GPS)

GLObal NAvigation Satellite
System (GLONASS)

Hyperbolic Navigation

DECCA
LORAN C

Preset guidance

Preset guidance is the simplest type of missile guidance. Israel's Arrow 3 missiles use a gimbaled seeker for
From the distance and direction of the target, the trajectory hemispheric coverage. By measuring the seeker'sline-
of the flight path is determined. Before firing, this of-sight propagation relative to the vehicle's motion,
information is programmed into the missile's guidance they use proportional navigationto divert their course
system, which, during flight, maneuvers the missile to and line up exactly with the target's flight path.[8]
follow that path. All the guidance components (including
sensors such as accelerometers or gyroscopes) are
contained within the missile, and no outside information (such as radio instructions) is used. An example of a
missile using Preset Guidance is the V-2 rocket.[9]

Inertial guidance

Inertial Guidance uses sensitive measurement devices to calculate the

location of the missile due to the acceleration put on it after leaving a
known position. Early mechanical systems were not very accurate, and
required some sort of external adjustment to allow them to hit targets
even the size of a city. Modern systems use solid state ring laser gyros
that are accurate to within metres over ranges of 10,000 km, and no
longer require additional inputs. Gyroscope development has
culminated in the AIRS found on the MX missile, allowing for an
accuracy of less than 100m at intercontinental ranges. Many civilian
Inspection of MM III missile guidance
aircraft use inertial guidance using the ring laser gyroscope, which is
system
less accurate than the mechanical systems found in ICBMs, but which
provide an inexpensive means of attaining a fairly accurate fix on
location (when most airliners such as Boeing's 707 and 747 were
designed, GPS was not the widely commercially available means of tracking that it is today). Today guided
weapons can use a combination of INS, GPS and radar terrain mapping to achieve extremely high levels of
accuracy such as that found in modern cruise missiles.[5]
Inertial guidance is most favored for the initial guidance and reentry vehicles of strategic missiles, because it
has no external signal and cannot be jammed.[3] Additionally, the relatively low precision of this guidance
method is less of an issue for large nuclear warheads.

Astro-inertial guidance

The astro-inertial guidance is a sensor fusion/information fusion of the inertial guidance and celestial
navigation. It is usually employed on submarine-launched ballistic missiles. Unlike silo-based intercontinental
ballistic missiles, whose launch point does not move and thus can serve as a reference, SLBMs are launched
from moving submarines, which complicates the necessary navigational calculations and increases Circular
error probable. This stellar-inertial guidance is used to correct small position and velocity errors that result from
launch condition uncertainties due to errors in the submarine navigation system and errors that may have
accumulated in the guidance system during the flight due to imperfect instrument calibration.

The USAF sought a precision navigation system for maintaining route accuracy and target tracking at very high
speeds. Nortronics, Northrop's electronics development division, had developed an astro-inertial navigation
system (ANS), which could correct inertial navigation errors with celestial observations, for the SM-62 Snark
missile, and a separate system for the ill-fated AGM-48 Skybolt missile, the latter of which was adapted for the
SR-71.[10]

It uses star positioning to fine-tune the accuracy of the inertial guidance system after launch. As the accuracy of
a missile is dependent upon the guidance system knowing the exact position of the missile at any given moment
during its flight, the fact that stars are a fixed reference point from which to calculate that position makes this a
potentially very effective means of improving accuracy.

In the Trident missile system this was achieved by a single camera that was trained to spot just one star in its
expected position (it is believed that the missiles from Soviet submarines would track two separate stars to
achieve this), if it was not quite aligned to where it should be then this would indicate that the inertial system
was not precisely on target and a correction would be made.[11]

Terrestrial guidance

TERCOM, for "terrain contour matching", uses altitude maps of the strip of land from the launch site to the
target, and compares them with information from a radar altimeter on board. More sophisticated TERCOM
systems allow the missile to fly a complex route over a full 3D map, instead of flying directly to the target.
TERCOM is the typical system for cruise missile guidance, but is being supplanted by GPS systems and by
DSMAC, Digital Scene-Matching Area Correlator, which employs a camera to view an area of land,
digitizes the view, and compares it to stored scenes in an onboard computer to guide the missile to its target.

DSMAC is reputed to be so lacking in robustness that destruction of prominent buildings marked in the
system's internal map (such as by a preceding cruise missile) upsets its navigation.[5]

See also
List of missiles
Countermeasure
Precision bombing

References

1. "Active and Semiactive Radar Missile Guidance" (http://www.ausairpower.net/TE-Radar-AAMs.html).

Air Power Australia.
 2. "Chapter 15. Guidance and Control" (http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/navy/docs/fun/part15.htm).
Federation of American Scientists.
3. Siouris, George. Missile Guidance and Control Systems. 2004
4. Zarchan, P. (2012). Tactical and strategic missile guidance (6th ed.). Reston, VA: American Institute of
Aeronautics and Astronautics.
5. P. Zarchan, Tactical and Strategic Missile Guidance, AIAA (2007).
6. [1] (http://www.army.mod.uk/linkedfiles/royalartillery/units/royal_school_of_artillery/bst_handout_f02.p
df) Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20070109230625/http://www.army.mod.uk/linkedfiles/royalar
tillery/units/royal_school_of_artillery/bst_handout_f02.pdf) January 9, 2007, at the Wayback Machine.
7. Yanushevsky, page 3.
8. Eshel, David (2010-02-12). "Israel upgrades its antimissile plans" (http://www.aviationnow.com/aw/gene
ric/story.jsp?id=news/awst/2010/02/08/AW_02_08_2010_p44-200503.xml&headline=Israel%20%20Upg
rades%20Its%20Antimissile%20Plans&channel=defense). Aviation Week & Space Technology. Retrieved
2010-02-13.
9. Chapter 15 Guidance and Control (http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/navy/docs/fun/part15.htm)
10. Morrison, Bill, SR-71 contributors, Feedback column, Aviation Week and Space Technology, 9
December 2013, p.10
11. "Trident II D-5 Fleet Ballistic Missile" (http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/systems/d-5-features.htm).
Retrieved June 23, 2014.

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