Design and Performance Evaluation Results of In-flight Transfer Alignment Technique for Guided Missiles Mounted on Fighter

In this study, the design and test evaluation results of an in-flight transfer alignment technique that aligns the SINS of a guided missile using navigation information transferred from the MINS of a fighter are presented for the first time in Korea. To design the in-flight transfer alignment technique in an environment that operates under high dynamics and has a large flexure error, the influence of error sources in transfer alignment on performance according to various measurements of transfer alignment filter was theoretically analyzed and confirmed through simulations. Performance analysis results revealed that the in-flight transfer alignment technique based on velocity integral measurements had the best attitude error estimation performance under a large flexure error environment and the excellent convergence rate in attitude error estimation. Therefore, a 16th order transfer alignment filter based on velocity integral measurements was finally designed. The designed in-flight transfer alignment technique based on velocity integral measurements was tested and evaluated through van and fighter mounting tests. The test and evaluation results revealed that the in-flight transfer alignment performance was excellent. Finally, through a flight test of the guided missile, after the transfer alignment was completed, the fired guided missile hit a determined target accurately. This flight test results further proved that the transfer alignment was operating normally.