This is the first part of a comprehensive and up-to-date survey of the techniques for tracking maneuvering targets without addressing the so-called measurement-origin uncertainty. It surveys various mathematical models of target motion/dynamics proposed for maneuvering target tracking, including 2D and 3D maneuver models as well as coordinate-uncoupled generic models for target motion. This survey emphasizes the underlying ideas and assumptions of the models. Interrelationships among models and insight to the pros and cons of models are provided. Some material presented here has not appeared elsewhere.

Survey of maneuvering target tracking. Part I. Dynamic models

This paper is the second part in a series that provides a comprehensive survey of maneuvering target tracking without addressing the so-called measurement-origin uncertainty. It surveys motion models of ballistic targets used for target tracking. Models for all three phases (i.e., boost, coast, and reentry) of motion are covered.

Survey of Maneuvering Target Tracking. Part II: Motion Models of Ballistic and Space Targets

To support the U.S. Air Force's global reach concept, a Common Aero Vehicle is being designed to support the global strike mission. Waypoints are specified for reconnaissance or multiple payload deployments and no-fly zones are specified for geopolitical restrictions or threat avoidance. Because of time critical targets and multiple scenario analysis, an autonomous solution is preferred over a time-intensive, manually iterative one. Thus, a real-time or near real-time autonomous trajectory optimization technique is presented to minimize the flight time, satisfy terminal and intermediate constraints, and remain within the specified vehicle heating and control limitations. This research uses the hypersonic cruise vehicle as a simplified two-dimensional platform to compute an optimal analytical solution. An up-and-coming numerical technique is a direct solution method involving discretization and then dualization, with pseudospectral methods and nonlinear programming used to converge to the optimal solution. This numerical technique is first compared to the previously derived 2-D hypersonic cruise vehicle analytical results to demonstrate convergence to the optimal solution. Then, the numerical approach is applied to the 3-D Common Aero Vehicle as the test platform for the flat Earth three-dimensional reentry trajectory optimization problem. The culmination of this research is the verification of the optimality of this proposed numerical technique, as shown for both the two-dimensional and three-dimensional models. Additionally, user implementation strategies are presented to improve accuracy, enhance solution convergence, and facilitate autonomous implementation.

Three-Dimensional Trajectory Optimization Satisfying Waypoint and No-Fly Zone Constraints

This is a part of Part VI (nonlinear filtering) of a series of papers that provide a comprehensive survey of techniques for tracking maneuvering targets without addressing the so-called measurement-origin uncertainty. Part I [52] and Part II [48] deal with target motion models. Part III [49], Part IV [50], and Part V [51] cover measurement models, maneuver detection based techniques, and multiple-model methods, respectively. This part surveys approximation techniques for point estimation of nonlinear dynamic systems that are general, applicable to a wide spectrum of nonlinear filtering problems, especially those in the context of maneuvering target tracking. Three classes of such techniques are survey here: function approximation, moment approximation, and stochastic model approximation.

A survey of maneuvering target tracking: approximation techniques for nonlinear filtering

This paper is the second part in a series that provides a comprehensive survey of the problems and techniques of tracking maneuvering targets in the absence of the so-called measurement-origin uncertainty. It surveys motion models of ballistic targets used for target tracking. Models for all three phases (i.e., boost, coast, and reentry) of motion are covered.

Survey of maneuvering target tracking: II. Ballistic target models

Presenting comprehensive coverage of the dynamics of atmospheric re-entry, this text details fundamental concepts and practical applications such as the atmospheric model and re-entry mechanics, and goes on to discuss specific topics such as re-entry decoys, flow fields and error analysis.

Frank J. Regan

Papers

Dynamics of Atmospheric Re-Entry

Force and Moment Equations

Maneuvering Re-Entry Vehicles: Particle Motion

Earth's Form and Gravitational Field

Gravity Gradient Moments