Effect of reaction-jet thrust on homing performance of endoatmospheric interceptors

For a low altitude endoatmospheric interceptor steered by aerodynamic fins and reaction jets, the propellant of the reaction-jet control system (RCS) is finite. An increase in the RCS thrust leads to a decrease in the maximum operation time. In this paper, the interception of a maneuvering tactical ballistic missile (TBM) is formulated as a zero-sum pursuit evasion game. Then, game space structure is employed to investigate the effect of the RCS thrust on homing performance. It's shown and demonstrated via simulation that, under propellant limits, a bigger RCS thrust can not guarantee a higher homing performance, especially when the target has high maneuverability.