Endgame Performance Tradeoff Study of a Special Class of Interceptions
Abstract
This study is concerned with investigating the endgame performance of a specific class of ballistic missile defense (BMD) interceptors: small, agile missiles configured to destroy reentry vehicles (RVs) by direct impact deep in the atmosphere. The endgame performance evaluation is carried out by analyzing the sensitivity of the miss distance statistics (mean and standard deviation) to various system parameters. The system parameters of interest are sensor accuracy, interceptor response time, physical dimensions (mass and shape), sensor aperture, and sensor carrier frequency. One fixed parameter is the interceptor guidance law; the one used is of the predictive proportional navigation type. The analytical tools used in this effort are the Cramer-Rao lower bound technique and a nonlinear covariance analysis. The first provides a measure of the interceptor's tracking performance: a lower bound on the estimation error. Given the bound time history, the nonlinear equations of the engagement are propagated from handover to intercept. This procedure results in the final miss distance statistics.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Oct 01, 1982
- Accession Number
- ADP001068
Entities
People
- Jonathan Korn