The Challenge of Intercepting Spiraling Tactical Ballistic Missiles

Paul Zarchan

Abstract:	Intentional or unintentional spiraling maneuvers on the part of a tactical ballistic missile target can make it particularly difficult for a pursuing missile to hit. The paper presents normalized miss distance curves showing how the target spiraling frequency and amplitude along with the interceptor guidance system time constant and navigation ratio determine the miss distance for a proportional navigation guidancesystem. It is also shown how more advanced guidance techniques can be used to improve system performance against spiraling targets. Whenever possible numerical examples are used to illustrate major points.
Published in:	Proceedings of the 52nd Annual Meeting of The Institute of Navigation (1996) June 19 - 21, 1996 Royal Sonesta Hotel Cambridge, MA
Pages:	223 - 231
Cite this article:	Zarchan, Paul, "The Challenge of Intercepting Spiraling Tactical Ballistic Missiles," Proceedings of the 52nd Annual Meeting of The Institute of Navigation (1996), Cambridge, MA, June 1996, pp. 223-231.
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