초록 ▼

Embodiments include engagement management systems and methods for managing engagement with aerial threats. Such systems include radar modules and detect aerial threats within a threat range of a base location. The systems also track intercept vehicles and control flight paths and detonation capabili

Embodiments include engagement management systems and methods for managing engagement with aerial threats. Such systems include radar modules and detect aerial threats within a threat range of a base location. The systems also track intercept vehicles and control flight paths and detonation capabilities of the intercept vehicles. The systems are capable of communication between multiple engagement management systems and coordinated control of multiple intercept vehicles.

대표청구항 ▼

1. An engagement management module for an eject vehicle, the engagement management module comprising: a sensor unit configured to identify a targeted object within a sensor range; anda guidance processor configured to: generate launch commands for causing the eject vehicle to be launched from a disp

1. An engagement management module for an eject vehicle, the engagement management module comprising: a sensor unit configured to identify a targeted object within a sensor range; anda guidance processor configured to: generate launch commands for causing the eject vehicle to be launched from a dispenser;generate timing and firing requirements for pitch thrusters mounted on the eject vehicle to perform a pitch maneuver to modify orientation of the eject vehicle to substantially align a longitudinal axis of the eject vehicle to point toward the targeted object prior to initiating a rocket motor of the eject vehicle; andtransmit the timing and firing requirements for the pitch thrusters to the eject vehicle. 2. The engagement management module of claim 1, further comprising a communication unit configured to communicate with the eject vehicle during its flight after launch from a dispenser, wherein the guidance processor is further configured to: generate guidance commands for divert thrusters mounted on the eject vehicle to perform a divert maneuver to modify a flight path of the eject vehicle toward a target point after execution of the pitch maneuver; andtransmit the guidance commands via the communication unit. 3. The engagement management module of claim 2, wherein the communication unit includes: a transmit processing chain including a digital-to-analog converter and an up converter;a receive processing chain including a down converter and an analog-to-digital converter; anda duplexing device operably coupled between the transmit processing chain and the receive processing chain. 4. The engagement management module of claim 2, wherein the guidance processor is further configured to transmit a detonation command to the eject vehicle via the communication unit for controlling detonation of a warhead carried by the eject vehicle. 5. The engagement management module of claim 2, wherein the communication unit includes a command link radio. 6. The engagement management module of claim 1, further comprising an inertial navigation unit configured to determine an initial attitude of the eject vehicle prior to launch of the eject vehicle from the dispenser. 7. The engagement management module of claim 1, wherein the guidance processor is configured to transmit the timing and firing requirements for the pitch thrusters to the eject vehicle after launch of the eject vehicle. 8. The engagement management module of claim 1, wherein the sensor unit includes at least one of a radar unit or an active laser. 9. The engagement management module of claim 1, wherein the sensor unit is configured to operate in a track mode during which the engagement management module tracks the identified targeted object. 10. The engagement management module of claim 1, wherein the sensor unit is configured to be operable in a search mode during which the engagement management module searches for an object to target. 11. The engagement management module of claim 1, wherein the sensor unit is configured to be operable in a mixed track and search mode. 12. The engagement management module of claim 1, wherein the sensor unit is configured to determine if the targeted object is an aerial threat and to launch the eject vehicle in response to such a determination. 13. An engagement management module for an eject vehicle, the engagement management module comprising: a sensor unit configured to identify a targeted object within a sensor range;a communication unit configured to communicate with the eject vehicle during flight thereof after launch from a dispenser; anda guidance processor configured to: generate guidance commands including divert thrust vectors for determining when to fire divert thrusters mounted on the eject vehicle to perform a divert maneuver after launch of the eject vehicle; andtransmit the guidance commands to the eject vehicle via the communication unit. 14. The engagement management module of claim 13, wherein the guidance processor is configured to transmit the divert thrust vectors as inertial coordinates for conversion into body coordinates by the eject vehicle. 15. An eject vehicle, comprising: a rocket motor configured to accelerate the eject vehicle along a longitudinal axis of the eject vehicle, and to impose a spin on the eject vehicle;divert thrusters, each divert thruster configured to, upon activation, laterally divert the eject vehicle from a current flight path in a direction transverse to the longitudinal axis; anda controller configured to receive guidance commands from a remote engagement management module and activate one or more of the plurality of divert thrusters at different times and at specific spin positions during the current flight path toward an intercept point. 16. The eject vehicle of claim 15, further comprising a telemetry unit configured to determine operation parameters of the eject vehicle and transmit via the controller to the remote engagement management module for updating the guidance commands. 17. The eject vehicle of claim 15, wherein the controller is configured to activate the one or more of the plurality of divert thrusters by: selecting a next available divert thruster based, at least in part, on attitude information about the eject vehicle and a thrust vector command; andactivating the next available divert thruster responsive to being aligned in a determined direction for achieving a desired divert angle. 18. The eject vehicle of claim 15, wherein the controller is configured to activate one or more of the plurality of divert thrusters at different times and at specific spin positions by: waiting until a magnitude of a divert velocity increment in an y-z plane exceeds a predetermined factor of a guidance velocity vector in the y-z plane;identifying a divert thruster that has not been fired that meets an offset requirement for a desired divert angle;activating the identified divert thruster responsive to its orientation vector reaching the desired divert angle. 19. The eject vehicle of claim 18, wherein the desired divert angle accounts for a smear angle due to body rotation of the eject vehicle. 20. The eject vehicle of claim 15, wherein the controller is configured to: receive guidance commands from a remote engagement management module as inertial coordinates; andproject the inertial coordinates onto a body coordinate system for the eject vehicle. 21. An eject vehicle, comprising: pitch thrusters mounted in a nose region of the eject vehicle, the pitch thrusters configured and oriented to cause both a lateral and a rotational acceleration about a center of gravity of the eject vehicle;a boost motor configured to accelerate the eject vehicle along a longitudinal axis of the eject vehicle and to impose a spin; anda controller configured to activate one or more of the pitch thrusters responsive to receiving pitch commands from a remote engagement management module, and to orient a longitudinal axis of the eject vehicle to point toward a targeted object after ejection of the eject vehicle and prior to activation of the boost motor. 22. The eject vehicle of claim 21, wherein the pitch commands include a timing sequence for determining, when to fire, and an order to fire, each of the pitch thrusters. 23. The eject vehicle of claim 21, wherein the controller is configured to activate the pitch thrusters to orient a longitudinal axis of the eject vehicle to point toward a targeted object such that a vector sum of a eject vehicle velocity vector following launch and a velocity vector increment imparted by the boost motor following the pitch maneuver is oriented approximately along a desired line of sight unit vector oriented toward an intercept point with the targeted object. 24. The eject vehicle of claim 21, wherein the controller is configured to activate opposite pairs of nose thrusters with at least some differential delay such that the opposite pairs burn at least partially overlapping in time. 25. The eject vehicle of claim 24, wherein the opposite pairs of nose thrusters are configured to burn with approximately equal force and duration. 26. The eject vehicle of claim 24, wherein the differential delay is defined as: Tdly=IKV⁢θdtFdt⁢Ddt⁢Tburn, wherein I KV is a moment of inertia for the eject vehicle, Θdt is a total rotation angle for the eject vehicle, Fdt is a time varying pitch thruster force, Ddt is a distance from a center of gravity for the eject vehicle, and Tburn is a burn time for the pitch thrusters. 27. The eject vehicle of claim 21, further comprising an attitude reference system configured to determine attitude information about the eject vehicle and transmit the attitude information to the controller. 28. A system, comprising: an eject vehicle (EV) including pitch thrusters, divert thrusters, and a boost motor; andan engagement management module (EMM) configured to communicate with the eject vehicle, the eject vehicle configured to: perform a pitch maneuver after launch from the dispenser, the pitch maneuver including activating at least one pitch thruster to orient a longitudinal axis of the eject vehicle toward an intercept point for a targeted object responsive to a pitch command received from the engagement management module;activate the boost motor after the pitch maneuver to accelerate the eject vehicle toward the intercept point; andperform a divert maneuver during flight of the eject vehicle toward the intercept point, the divert maneuver including activating at least one divert thruster to adjust a flight path of the eject vehicle in a direction transverse to the longitudinal axis of the eject vehicle. 29. The system of claim 28, wherein the system is configured to perform the pitch maneuver including: an EMM component executed by the EMM prior to launch that computes the firing commands for the pitch thrusters needed to achieve the desired orientation; andan EV component executed by the EV after launch that fires the pitch thrusters responsive to the firing commands. 30. The system of claim 28, wherein the eject vehicle is further configured to detonate a warhead of the eject vehicle responsive to a detonation command. 31. The system of claim 30, wherein the detonation command includes: an EMM component executed by the EMM to determine a detonation time for the warhead and generate the detonation command; andan EV component executed by the EV to detonate the warhead responsive to the detonation command received from the EMM. 32. The system of claim 31, wherein the detonation time determined by the engagement management module is dynamically updated during flight of the eject vehicle. 33. The system of claim 32, wherein the eject vehicle and the engagement management module are further configured to synchronize internal clocks with each other for determining when to detonate the warhead based, at least in part, on the detonation time. 34. The system of claim 33, wherein the detonation time is based, at least in part, on determining that the eject vehicle has reached a closest point of approach of the targeted object. 35. A method of engaging a targeted object, comprising: identifying a targeted object within a sensor range of a platform;determining an intercept vector for use by an eject vehicle disposed on the platform, the intercept vector directed toward an interception point with the eject vehicle and the targeted object;communicating at least one pitch command to the eject vehicle to cause the eject vehicle to perform at least one pitch maneuver toward the intercept vector by firing at least one pitch thruster;detecting the eject vehicle within the sensor range after the eject vehicle has been ejected; andcommunicating at least one guidance command to the eject vehicle during flight to adjust the intercept vector used by the eject vehicle and cause the eject vehicle to perform at least one divert maneuver by firing at least one divert thruster to adjust a flight path of the eject vehicle. 36. An engagement management system, comprising: two or more engagement management modules, each engagement management module comprising: a sensor module configured to detect a targeted object and detect one or more eject vehicles at least during an intercept flight;a guidance processor operably coupled to the sensor module and configured to: determine intercept vectors for use by the one or more eject vehicles responsive to information about the targeted object and the one or more eject vehicles, the intercept vectors directed toward an interception point with a corresponding eject vehicle and the targeted object;generate pitch commands for the one or more eject vehicles to perform pitch maneuvers after ejection from a launcher and prior to activation of a boost motor; anddetermine in-flight adjustments for the one or more eject vehicles; anda communication unit operably coupled to the guidance processor and configured to transmit guidance commands to the one or more eject vehicles to cause divert thrusters of the one or more eject vehicles to fire responsive to the in-flight adjustments causing a divert thrust to be applied to the eject vehicle in a direction transverse to a direction of travel. 37. A method of engaging an aerial threat, comprising: determining intercept vectors for respective use by one or more eject vehicles responsive to information from detection of a targeted object and detection of the one or more eject vehicles, the intercept vectors directed toward an interception point with a corresponding eject vehicle and the targeted object;generating and sending pitch commands to the one or more eject vehicles to cause the one or more eject vehicles to perform a pitch maneuver to orient the eject vehicle toward its intercept vector after ejection thereof;determining flight adjustments for the one or more eject vehicles during their respective flights; andsending guidance commands related to the flight adjustments to the one or more eject vehicles to cause divert thrusters of the one or more eject vehicles o fire during their respective flights. 38. The method of claim 37, further comprising detecting an aerial threat to a base location and identifying the aerial threat as the targeted object. 39. An engagement system, comprising: one or more dispensers each associated with a platform, each dispenser configured to hold one or more eject vehicles; anda computing system configured to: communicate with an engagement management module configured to identify a targeted object within a sensor range;transmit a launch command to the one or more eject vehicles to be launched for flight toward an intercept point for the determined aerial threat;transmit pitch commands to the one or more eject vehicles for pitch thrusters to fire during a pitch maneuver to adjust their flight path toward the interception point after being launched; andtransmit guidance commands to the one or more eject vehicles while the one or more eject vehicles are in flight and after the pitch maneuver for divert thrusters to fire to adjust their flight path toward the interception point for the determined aerial threats. 40. The engagement system of claim 39, wherein the pitch maneuver includes a two-stage process that executes both an azimuth rotation and an elevation rotation to align the longitudinal axis of the eject vehicle with an intercept vector pointed toward the intercept point. 41. The engagement system of claim 39, wherein the computing system is further configured to communicate and share radar and control information with other engagement systems on additional platforms within a coverage area. 42. A control system for an eject vehicle, comprising: a processor configured to generate timing and firing controls for thrusters onboard an eject vehicle to orient a longitudinal axis of the eject vehicle toward an intercept point with a targeted object responsive to inertial information received from one or more attitude sensors located onboard the eject vehicle. 43. The control system of claim 42, wherein the processor is further configured to generate the timing and firing controls for the thrusters responsive to receiving data associated with the intercept point from a remote engagement management system after launch of the eject vehicle. 44. The control system of claim 42, wherein the processor is further configured to generate the timing and firing controls for the thrusters responsive to receiving data associated with the intercept point from a remote engagement management system prior to launch of the eject vehicle.