Simulating the Performance of Tracking a Spinning Missile at C-Band
Darren R. Kartchner · ScholarsArchive (Brigham Young University) · 2013
The amplitude fluctuation induced by a spinning missile acts as a disturbance on tracking schemes that use sequential lobing (e.g., conscan). In addition, if a tracking system converts from S-band to C-band, the beamwidth is narrower and the wrap-around antenna on the missile requires more patches, and so the margin of error for tracking decreases. Tracking performance is simulated with a spinning missile with ballistic and fly-by trajectories while running at C-band. The spinning missile causes a periodic component in the pointing error, and when the scan frequency is an integer multiple of the roll rate, several tracking schemes lose track of the target. Remedial techniques are discussed, including increasing the scan frequency and using simultaneous (monopulse) tracking rather than sequential lobing.