Three-Dimensional Cooperative Guidance Against Aerial Target for Unpowered Glide Vehicle

This paper investigates the spatial-temporal guidance problem for multiple unpowered High-speed Glid Vehicles (HGV). First, a 3D vector guidance law is given by extending the traditional 2D guidance law to 3D scenario, in which the terminal angle constraint and time-coordination of multiple HGVs are satisfied. Then, the time-to-go estimation problem considering moving target for HGV without active velocity control is addressed by numerical integration, and from which predictive intercepting point (PIP) is gained, thus the problem of intercepting a moving target simultaneously is simplified as guiding multiple HGVs to hit a fixed point along different directions at same time. Taking into account that aerial target can evade threats through terminal maneuvering, an extended state observer is used to estimate the acceleration of target. Accordingly, a sliding mode terminal guidance law designed in the framework of Line-of-Sight (LOS), which is different from the previous guidance law, is used to compensate the disturbance caused by the maneuvering target. Unlike similar existing results, the proposed guidance strategy for HGV can satisfy spatial-temporal constraints when the target is moving or maneuvering, and the guidance law designed in this paper is appropriate for unpowered vehicles without constant velocity. Numerical simulations are provided to show the effectiveness of the proposed cooperative guidance law.