The influence of the dynamics of an autonomous anti-aircraft system on the effectiveness of tracking and intercepting an air target

Abstract

The increasing deployment of unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs) demands advanced stabilization systems capable of maintaining precise line-of-sight (LOS) target tracking under dynamic operational conditions. This paper presented a comprehensive parametric simulation framework for the preliminary design and evaluation of turret stabilization algorithms on a moving vehicle. The proposed approach couples a seven-degree-of-freedom (7-DOF) suspension model with three-dimensional kinematic coordinate transformations and a nonlinear two-axis turret model. To mitigate the disturbances arising from terrain irregularities, turning maneuvers, and weapon recoil, a cascade PID control architecture augmented with gravitational feedforward compensation and practical actuator constraints was implemented. Numerical simulations conducted in the MATLAB/Simulink environment demonstrate that the control system successfully compensates for transient disturbances, easily satisfying the < 2° accuracy requirement for target acquisition. However, maintaining the stringent < 0.25° precision tracking limit during sustained broadband terrain excitation remains challenging. The developed framework serves as a robust tool for future remotely-operated weapon station design, indicating that structural inertia optimization and improved sensor noise filtering are key pathways for further performance enhancement.