Towards Cooperative Guidance in Air-Defense: Domain-Informed Dynamic Weapon Target Assignment

Abstract

A novel approach to cooperative guidance for air-defense systems is presented, enabling dynamic evaluation and optimization of assignments in real-time to maximize effectiveness while minimizing resource utilization. The approach builds on the concept of Weapon Target Assignment (WTA), extending it to continuous mid-course cooperation. Proposed is a multi-objective, cost-driven WTA optimization approach that leverages domain knowledge to obtain optimal solutions, considering not only the assignment of effectors to targets but also the protection of assets and the flight dynamics of effectors with limited propellant supply. The approach considers three high-level optimization objectives: maximization of asset-survivability, minimization of general threat level imposed by targets, and maximization of energy reserves. These objectives are cast into cost parameters for any assignment of effectors to targets, such that the WTA problem can be optimized by selecting a combination of assignments that minimize the costs. The effectiveness of the approach is demonstrated through test simulations, which prove successful implementation of the WTA algorithms in various scenarios, including numerical equality, minority, superiority, and with assets. The computational demands are shown to be feasible and promise real-time capabilities on embedded systems. The results demonstrate the value of incorporating domain knowledge into the WTA optimization approach, making it a promising solution for envisioned onboard real-time applications with limited computational power. Overall, this work contributes to the development of highly automated support systems for human operators in increasingly complex air-defense scenarios.