Ballistic Missile

Trajectories
 Ballistic Missiles
 Ballistic missiles are used for transportation of a
payload from one point on the Earth (launch site) to
another point on the surface of the Earth (impact
point or target). They are accelerated to a high
velocity during a relatively short period.

 Then a re-entry vehicle, containing the warhead,

is released and this vehicle then simply coasts in a
ballistic or free-fall trajectory to the final impact
point.
 Ballistic Missile Trajectory
 The trajectory of a missile differs from a satellite
orbit in only one respect – it intersects the surface
of the Earth. Otherwise, it follows a conic orbit
during the free-flight portion of its trajectory.
 General Ballistic Missile Problem
 A ballistic missile trajectory is composed of three
parts:
– the powered flight portion which lasts from
launch to thrust cutoff or burnout,
– the free-flight portion which constitutes most
of the trajectory, and
– the re-entry portion which begins at some ill-
defined point where atmospheric drag
becomes a significant force in determining the
missile's path and lasts until impact.
 General Ballistic Missile Problem
 Since energy is continuously being added to the
missile during powered flight, we cannot use 2-
body mechanics to determine its path from launch
to burnout. The path of the missile during this
critical part of the flight is determined by the
guidance and navigation system.
 During free-flight, the trajectory is part of a conic
orbit – almost always an ellipse – which we already
analyzed.
 Re-entry involves the dissipation of energy by
friction with the atmosphere.
General Ballistic Missile Problem

 

Figure 1: Geometry of a Ballistic

Missile Trajectory
 Non-dimensional Parameter Q
 Here we need to define a non-dimensional
parameter Q as
2
 v  v2 r
Q   (1)
 vcs  

v2  
 From the energy equation     , we can
2 r 2a
prove
r r
a or Q  2 (2)
2Q a
 Free-flight Range Equation
 Since the free-flight trajectory of a missile is a
conic section, the general equation of a conic can
be applied to the burnout point.
p
rbo  (3)
1  e cos bo

 Solving for cos  bo ,we get

p  rbo
cos bo  (4)
rbo e
Free-flight Range Equation

Figure 2: Symmetrical Geometry

 Free-flight Range Equation
 Since the free-flight trajectory is assumed to be
symmetrical (h bo  h re), half the free-flight range
angle, , lies on each side of the major axis, and

cos   cos bo (5)
2

 Therefore equation (4) can be written as

 rbo  p
cos  (6)
2 rbo e
Equation (6) is an expression for the free-flight
range angle in terms of p, e, and rbo .
 Free-flight Range Equation
 Since p  h 2  and h  rv cos  , we can use the
definition of parameter Q to obtain
r 2 v 2 cos 2 
p  r Q cos 2  (7)

p
 Now, since p  a  1 e  ,  e  1
2 2
(8)
a

 Substituting equations (2) and (7) in equation (8),

we get
e 2  1  Q cos 2   Q  2  (9)
 Free-flight Range Equation
 Now substituting equations (7) and (9) into
equation (6) we have one form of the free-flight
range equation:
 1  Qbo cos 2 bo
cos  (10)
2 1  Qbo cos bo  Qbo  2 
2

 Given a particular launch point and target, the

total range angle, , can be calculated (We will see
later). If we know how far the missile will travel
during powered flight and re-entry, the required
free-flight range angle, , also becomes known.
 Free-flight Range Equation
 If we now specify rbo and vbo for the missile, what
should the flight-path angle, bo , be in order that the
missile will hit the target?

 In other words, it would be nice to have an

equation for bo in terms of rbo , vbo and .

 So we need to consider a geometry shown in

Figure 3 to derive an expression for flight-path
angle equation.
Flight path Angle Equation

Figure 3:
Ellipse Geometry
 Flight path Angle Equation
 From Figure 3, it can be proven that the angle
between rbo and rbo  is bisected by the normal. This
 is
simply gives that the angle between rbo and rbo
2bo .

 Let us concentrate on the triangle formed by

F , F  and the burnout point. Let us divide the
triangle into two right triangles by the dashed line,
d, as shown in Figure 4.
 Flight path Angle Equation

Figure 4:
Triangle formed
from Ellipse
Geometry
 Flight path Angle Equation
 Now From Figure 4, we can express d as

d  rbo sin (11)
2
and also as
    
d  rbo sin 180   2bo    (12)
  2 
 Combining the two equations (11) and (12), we
get
   rbo 
sin  2bo    sin
 2  bo
r  2 (13)
 Flight path Angle Equation
 Since rbo  rbo  2a and from equation (2),
rbo  a  2  Qbo  , we can write equation (13) as

   2  Qbo 
sin  2bo    sin (14)
 2 Qbo 2

 Equation (14) is called the flight path angle

equation.
Maximum Range Trajectory

Figure 5: Range vs flight-path angle

 Maximum Range Trajectory
 To derive expressions for the maximum range
condition, a simpler method is to see under what
conditions the flight-path angle equation yields a
single solution.
 If the right side of equation (14) equals exactly 1,
we get only a single answer for bo . This must, then,
be the maximum range condition.
   2  Qbo 
sin  2bo    sin  1 (15)
 2 Qbo 2
 1
 2bo   90  bo   180   

(16)
2 4
for maximum range conditions only.
 Maximum Range Trajectory
 From equation (15) we can easily find the
maximum range angle attainable with a given Qbo .
 Qbo
sin  (17)
2 2  Qbo
for maximum range conditions.

 Solving for Qbo , we get

2sin   2 
Qbo  (18)
1  sin   2 
for maximum range conditions.
Time of Free-flight
 Time of Free-flight
 The value of eccentric anomaly can be computed

by taking 1  180 
  2 as
e  cos   2 
cos E1  (19)
1  e cos   2 
 And the time of free-flight can be obtained from
a3
t ff  2    E1  e sin E1  (20)

Effect of launching errors
on Free-flight Range
 Effect of Launching errors on Range
 Variations in the speed, position, and launch
direction of the missile at thrust cutoff will produce
errors at the impact point.

These errors are of two types – errors in the

intended plane which cause either a long or a short
hit, and out-of-plane errors which cause the missile
to hit to the right or left of the target.

 We will refer to errors in the intended plane as

"down-range" errors, and out-of-plane errors as
"cross-range" errors.
Effect of Lateral Displacement of the Burnout
Point
 If the thrust cutoff point is displaced by an
amount, X, perpendicular to the intended plane of
the trajectory and all other conditions are nominal,
the cross-range error, C, at impact can be
determined from spherical trigonometry.
Effect of Lateral Displacement of the Burnout
Point

arc length C = cross-range error

 Effect of Lateral Displacement of the Burnout
Point
 Applying the law of cosines for spherical
trigonometry to triangle OAB in previous diagram
and noting that the small angle at O is the same as
X, we get

cos C  sin 2   cos 2  cos X (21)

 Since both X and C will be very small angles,

we can use the small angle approximation,
cos x  1   x 2 / 2  to simplify equation (21) to

C  X cos  (22)
Cross-range Error due to Incorrect Launch Azimuth
 If the actual launch azimuth differs from the
intended launch azimuth by an amount, , a cross-
range error, C, will result.
Cross-range Error due to Incorrect Launch Azimuth
 From the law of cosines for spherical triangles we
get
cos C  cos   sin  cos 
2 2
(23)

 If we assume that both  and C will be very

small angles, we can use the small angle
approximation, cos x  1   x 2 / 2  to simplify equation
(23) to
C   sin  (24)
 Effect of Down-Range Displacement of the
Burnout Point
 An error in down-range position at thrust cutoff
produces an equal error at impact.

If the actual burnout point is 1 nm farther down-

range than was intended, the missile will overshoot
the target by exactly 1 nm.
Effect of burnout flight-path angle errors on range

 In the above graph  will represent a down-

range error causing the missile to undershoot or
overshoot the target.
Effect of burnout flight-path angle errors on range
 A good approximate value for  for very small
values of bo is given by

  bo (25)
bo

where is the slope of the curve at the point
bo
corresponding to the intended trajectory.
Effect of burnout flight-path angle errors on range
 The expression for 
may be obtained by
bo
implicit partial differentiation of the free-flight
range equation.
 The free-flight range equation can be converted
into an alternate form for the simple
differentiation.
 Recall the free-flight range equation
 1  Qbo cos bo
2
cos 
2 1  Qbo cos 2 bo  Qbo  2 
Effect of burnout flight-path angle errors on range
 Let us consider the numerator of equation (10) as
 and denominator as .
   
Then cos  and cot  .
2  2  2  2

Substituting for  and we get

 1  Qbo cos 2 bo
cot 
2 Qbo cos bo 1  cos 2 bo

But 1  cos bo  sin bo , therefore,

2

 1  Qbo cos bo 2

cot 
2 Qbo cos bo sin bo
Effect of burnout flight-path angle errors on range
 Since sin 2 x  2 cos x sin x, we can further
simplify to obtain
 2
cot  csc 2bo  cot bo
2 Qbo

Now express the above equation in terms of rbo , vbo

and bo ,
 2
cot  2 csc 2bo  cot bo (26)
2 vbo rbo
Now we can differentiate equation (26) implicitly
with respect tobo , considering rbo , vbo as constants.
Effect of burnout flight-path angle errors on range

 2sin    2bo 
  2 (27)
bo sin 2bo
 This partial derivative is called an influence
coefficient since it influences the size of the range
error resulting from a particular burnout error.

 Therefore the free-flight range error due to

burnout flight-path angle error is given by
 2sin    2bo  
    2  bo (28)
 sin 2bo 
 Down-Range Errors caused by Incorrect Burnout
Height
 Again a good approximate value for  for very
small values of  rbo is given by

   rbo
rbo
 Again differentiating the equation (26) implicitly

with respect to rbo , and solving for , we get
rbo
 2
sin
 4 2
 2 2 (29)
rbo vbo rbo sin 2bo
 Down-Range Errors caused by Incorrect Speed at
Burnout
 A good approximate value for  for very small
values of  vbo is given by

   vbo
vbo

 Again differentiating the equation (26) implicitly

v 
with respect to bo , and solving for , we get
vbo
2
sin
 8 2
 3 (30)
vbo vbo rbo sin 2bo
 Total Down-Range Error
 Now the total down range-error is given by

  
 TOTAL   bo   rbo   vbo
bo rbo vbo
 Effect of Earth Rotation
 The Earth rotates once on its axis in 23 hrs 56
min producing a surface velocity at the equator of
approx 465 m/sec (or 1524 ft/sec). The rotation is
from west to east.
 The free-flight portion of a ballistic missile
trajectory is inertial in character. That is, it remains
fixed in the XYZ inertial frame while the Earth runs
under it. Relative to this inertial XYZ frame, both the
launch point and the target are in motion.
 Thus we need to compensate for motion of the
launch site and the motion of the target due to
earth rotation.
Compensating for the Initial Velocity of the Missile

 We can express the speed of any launch point on

the surface of the earth as
Vo = 1524 cos L0 (ft/sec)
Compensating for the Initial Velocity of the Missile
 The north, east, and up components of the true
velocity v can be obtained as
vN  ve cos e cos  e
vE  ve cos e sin  e  v0
vZ  ve sin e

 Now the true velocity, flight-path angle, and

azimuth can then be found from
v  vN2  vE2  vZ2
sin   vZ v ; tan   vE v N
Compensating for the Initial Velocity of the Missile

Figure 6: True velocity and Direction at burnout

 Compensating for Movement of the Target

Figure 7: Launch site and aiming point at the instant of launch

 Compensating for Movement of the Target
 The latitude and longitude coordinates of the
launch point are L0 and N 0, respectively, so the arc

length OA in Figure 7 is just 90  L . If the coordinates
0

of the target are  Lt , N t  then the latitude and

longitude of the aiming point should be Lt and
N t  t respectively. The term,  t, represents
the number of degrees the Earth turns during the
time t . The angular rate,  , at which the earth
turns is approximately 15 deg/hr.
 Arc length OB is simply 90  Lt , and the third side
of the spherical triangle is the ground trace of the
missile trajectory which subtends the angle .
 Compensating for Movement of the Target
 The angle formed at O is just the difference in
longitude between the launch point and the aiming
point, N  t , where N is the difference in
longitude between launch point and target.
 cos   sin L0 sin Lt  cos L0 cos Lt cos  N  t 
By considering the launch azimuth,  in the
spherical triangle,
sin Lt  sin L0 cos   cos L0 sin  cos 
sin Lt  sin L0 cos 
 cos  
cos L0 sin 
 Textbook(s)
 Roger R. Bate, Donald D. Mueller, Jerry E. White,
Fundamentals of Astrodynamics, Dover Publications, 1971.