Graphical visualization of missile–target air‐to‐air engagements: An educational tool for designing and evaluating missile guidance and control systems

This article describes a user‐friendly C/C++/Windows‐based program which simulates and graphically displays a Bank‐to‐Turn (BTT) missile in pursuit of an evading target. Traditionally, students and practicing engineers must conduct extensive simulations to develop insight about such a complex “system.” In this article, an educational PC graphics program which significantly expedites this process is described. The program is organized into three modules: (1) A program‐user interface provides interactive mouse‐keyboard‐driven pull‐down menus to adjust engagement parameters. (2) A simulation module generates engagement data from a system of nonlinear differential equations modeling the missile, the autopilot, various guidance laws, and target maneuvers. (3) A graphics module uses the data to update the encounter on the screen. The program can be linked with MATLAB macros for purposes of analysis. A help/instruct facility assists users with program features and concepts. Sample missile‐target engagements are presented to demonstrate the utility of the program as an educational tool and as a tool for the analysis, design, and evaluation of missile guidance and control systems. In short, the program has proven itself as a useful educational tool for students studying feedback and control systems and as an excellent vehicle for introducing students to modeling, simulation, and graphical visualization of dynamical systems.