High angle of attack command generation technique and tracking control for agile missiles

Abstract This paper proposes a new tracking control design for agile missiles at high angle of attack regime. Firstly, mathematical descriptions of the problem are presented, taking aerodynamic uncertainties into consideration. Based on the dynamics inverse modeling in a neural network (NN) architecture, the angle of attack command augmented by a variable structure technique is then generated to correspond with the desired turn rate. Subsequently, a nonlinear adaptive control approach using sliding mode control (SMC) technique is employed to track the angle of attack command. Due to the introduction of extended state observer (ESO), the proposed approach is able to online estimate the system uncertainties and calculate derivatives of signals required for composing the control law. Finally, to demonstrate the feasibility and validity of the proposed methodology, the numerical simulation of the agile missile intercepting a target in the rear hemisphere is presented.