Firing Command Generation for Close-In Weapon System to Intercept High-Speed Targets

Abstract

Close-in weapon system (CIWS) obligates to intercept incoming high-speed targets by shooting numerous bullets within a short time. This study proposes a firing command generation method for CIWS by deriving an approximate closed-form trajectory for a bullet launched from CIWS. Based on the closed-form trajectory solution, an impact point prediction method is developed for moving targets. A predicted impact point (PIP), firing angles, and expected time-of-flight (TOF) can be obtained here. By serving those firing angles as a baseline firing command, we also propose a firing correction algorithm to improve interception performance against maneuvering targets. To this end, correcting firing angles are obtained for a given static impact error using the previous engagement data. It is shown that they can also be used for calibrating CIWS in the presence of an aiming error. A likely prediction error is introduced to deal with the impact error caused by the target maneuver. Engagement simulations are performed between a single CIWS and anti-ship missiles (ASMs) to demonstrate that the proposed algorithms can effectively intercept high-speed targets.