Near-optimal midcourse guidance for air-to-air missiles

Singular perturbation theory is used to derive a near-optimal mid-course guidance law incorporating a linear combination of flight time and terminal specific energy as the performance index. State variables in the slow time-scale model consist of down range, cross range, specific energy, and heading angle. A near-optimal approach using feedback linearization is developed to account for altitude and flight-path-angle dynamics neglected in the slow time-scale solution. Implementation logic and simulation results for an engagement scenario are given.