Reducing Miss Distance by Using Twisting Wing Control

摘要

The purpose of this study is to present a new method for controlling missile'sflight path. The method relies on twisting a high aspect ratio wing to obtain the liftrequired to alter the missile's flight path. Because the flight control is carried out by themain wings, very short response times are obtained. This in turn enables the achievementof surprisingly small miss distances.The missile is guided by twisting its wings and generating direct lift. The tailserves as a stabilizer only and does not move. The roots of the wings are attached rigidlyto the fuselage, while the wing tips are twisted by small servos. The wing twist is zeronear t the root of the wing and increases linearly to the wing tip. This in turn causes thehe maximum lift to be produced near the wing tip. The resulting distribution of liftminimizes the induced flow impinging on the tail surfaces, which in turn results inminima minimal induced roll moment.l The study compares the performance of the missile using the wing twist methodof piloting with the performance of a missile which is piloted conventionally bydeflecting the rear fin when the wings are rigid. To compare the miss dis distances achievabletances using the two piloting methods a simple simulation was implemented.The performances of the two missiles were compared in two scenarios. Missdistances due to an initial heading error and miss distance due to step in targetacceleration. The results of the miss distance study demonstrate the superiority of themissile piloted by wing twisting. It was found that miss distance for heading error was