Integrated design of agile missile guidance and autopilot systems

Traditional approach for the design of missile guidance and autopilot systems has been to design these subsystems separately and then to integrate them. Such an approach does not exploit any beneficial relationships between these and other subsystems. A technique for integrated design of missile guidance and autopilot systems using the feedback linearization technique is discussed. Numerical results using a six degree-of-freedom missile simulation are given. Integrated guidance-autopilot systems are expected to result in significant improvements in missile performance, leading to lower weight and enhanced lethality. These design methods have extensive applications in high performance aircraft autopilot and guidance system design. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.