A MORE EFFECTIVE NAVIGATION MODEL FOR INTERDICTIONS OF EVASIVE TARGETS

GUIDANCE OR NAVIGATION LAWS FOR ANTI-TORPEDO WEAPONS MUST BE EFFECTIVE AGAINST HIGHLY MANEUVERABLE TARGETS. CLASSICAL GUIDANCE LAWS, SUCH AS PROPORTIONAL NAVIGATION, DO NOT SATISFY THIS CRITERION SINCE THEIR DESIGN IS BASED ON THE ASSUMPTION OF A NONMANEUVERING TARGET. GUIDANCE LAWS BASED ON DIFFERENTIAL GAME THEORY SPECIFICALLY ACCOUNT FOR THE MANEUVER CAPABILITIES OF THE TARGET. THE OBJECTIVES OF THIS PROJECT ARE (1) TO USE ZERO-SUM DIFFERENTIAL GAME THEORY TO DERIVE GUIDANCE LAWS FOR ANTI-TORPEDO WEAPONS AND (2) TO EVALUATE THEM USING A SIMULATION. THESE LAWS WILL CONSIDER THE TIME DELAY AND UNCERTAINTIES IN THE ACOUSTIC DATA THAT PROVIDE THE INFORMATION ON RELATIVE TARGET MOTION. WORK WILL START WITH DEVELOPMENT OF DYNAMIC MODELS FOR THE TWO VEHICLES, THE ACOUSTIC MEASUREMENT MODEL FOR THE ANTI-TORPEDO WEAPON, AND THE WEAPON'S MEASUREMENT OF PERFORMANCE. DIFFERENTIAL GAME THEORY WILL BE USED TO DERIVE THE GUIDANCE LAWS CONSIDERING THE DELAY IN THE RECEIPT OF ACOUSTIC DATA ON THE TARGET DUE TO THE FINITE SPEED OF SOUND, FIRST ASSUMING PERFECT TARGET INFORMATION AND THEN INCLUDING THE NOISY ACOUSTIC MEASUREMENT MODELS. A POINT MASS SIMULATION WILL BE DEVELOPED AND USED TO COMPARE THE PERFORMANCE OF THESE GUIDANCE LAWS AGAINST BOTH CLASSICAL AND OPTIMAL CONTROL GUIDANCE LAWS.