APPLICATION OF SINGULAR PERTURBATION-METHODS FOR 3-DIMENSIONAL MINIMUM-TIME INTERCEPTION

In this paper, a feedback control law based on the singular perturbation method is developed for three-dimensional minimum-time interception. Whereas the heading and flight-path angles are considered fast variables with the same time scale, the relative position and the specific energy are considered slow variables. A zeroth-order optimal control algorithm is developed, and an extension to higher-order analysis is discussed. With the demonstrations of several numerical examples, it is shown that this time-scale separation is physically reasonable and results in a uniformly valid control law for long-, medium-, and short-range interception.