Design Methodology of a Mini-Missile Considering Flight Performance and Guidance Precision

The design of mini-missiles (MMs) presents several novel challenges. The stringent mission requirement to reach a target with a certain precision imposes a high guidance precision. The miniaturization of the size of MMs makes the design of the guidance, navigation, and control (GNC) have a larger-than-before impact on the main-body design (shape, motor, and layout design) and its design objective, i.e., flight performance. Pursuing a trade-off between flight performance and guidance precision, all the relevant interactions have to be accounted for in the design of the main body and the GNC system. Herein, a multi-objective and multidisciplinary design optimization (MOO) is proposed. Disciplines pertinent to motor, aerodynamics, layout, trajectory, flight dynamics, control, and guidance are included in the proposed MOO framework. The optimization problem seeks to maximize the range and minimize the guidance error. The problem is solved by using the nondominated sorting genetic algorithm II. An optimum design that balances a longer range with a smaller guidance error is obtained. Finally, lessons learned about the design of the MM and insights into the trade-off between flight performance and guidance precision are given by comparing the optimum design to a design provided by the traditional approach.