Robust pitch autopilot design for agile missiles at high angle of attack

Abstract

This paper proposes a pitch autopilot design for agile missiles which experience high pitch angles or angles of attack (AoA) during their manoeuvres. One great challenge pertaining to high AoA is that aerodynamic coefficients cannot be precisely predicted in a conventional wind tunnel environment. To directly address this challenge, the proposed autopilot design (based on the integrator backstepping) does not require precise knowledge of such aerodynamic coefficients and so has a strong practical merit. Simulation results clearly testify this practical merit.