Observer-based Guidance Law Accounting for Second-order Dynamics of Missile Autopilots

Accounting for the missile autopilot as second-order dynamics, an observer-based guidance law is designed based on the dynamic surface control method. Some first-order low-pass filters are introduced into the design process to avoid the occurrence of high-order derivatives of the line of sight angle in the expression of guidance law such that it can be implemented in practical applications. The proposed guidance law is effective in compensating the bad influence of the autopilot lag on guidance accuracy. In the simulations of intercepting non maneuvering targets, targets with step acceleration, and targets with sinusoidal acceleration respectively, the guidance law is compared with the adaptive sliding mode guidance law in the presence of missile autopilot lag. The simulation results show that the proposed guidance law is able to guide a missile to accurately intercept a maneuvering target, even if it escapes in a great and fast maneuver and the autopilot has a relatively large lag.