Tactical and Strategic Missile Guidance (Progress in Astronautics and Aeronautics) (Hardcover)

by Paul Zarchan (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
This latest edition features five new chapters on such timely aerospace issues as the multiple target or aimpoint shift problem and the challenges posed by spiraling targets and flight control design fundamentals.

Based on the author's "Fundamentals of Tactical and Strategic Missile Guidance" continuing education course, the text takes an intricate look at weaving and spiraling targets, including the helical trajectory flown by the SCUD missiles during the Persian Gulf War. Zarchan provides strategies for improved interceptor performance, and demonstrates valuable problem-solving methods and other practical techniques not typically taught in graduate programs. Together with numerous new examples and easy-to-understand graphs and explanations, readers with varied learning styles will find Tactical and Strategic Missile Guidance a staple for any aerospace engineer's library.

Companion software, in both Macintosh and IBM-compatible versions, contains source code listings in FORTRAN, C, and MATLAB languages. A detailed set of appendices not only serves as a user's guide but also explains how the text's FORTRAN source can easily be converted to either C or MATLAB. The conversion technique plus detailed source code examples will be tools of interest to all engineers, regardless of whether you specialize in missile guidance or other aerospace-related fields. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author
Paul Zarchan has a BSEE degree from the City College of New York and an MSEE degree from Columbia University. He has more than 35 years' experience in the missile guidance and control field and has worked as Principal Engineer for Raytheon, served as Senior Research Engineer with the Israeli Ministry of Defense ,was a Principal Member of the Technical Staff at the Charles Stark Draper Laboratory and is currently a member of the technical staff at MIT Lincoln Laboratory. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 889 pages
• Publisher: AIAA (American Institute of Aeronautics & Ast; 5 edition (January 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1563478749
• ISBN-13: 978-1563478741
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.3 x 2.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #103,396 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding text for learning about missile guidance, February 24, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Tactical and Strategic Missile Guidance (Progress in Astronautics and Aeronautics, Vol 124) (Hardcover)

Professor Zarchan's text is an outstanding
treatment of missile guidance and control.
The derivation of proportional navigation and
other missile control laws provides insight
and the additions for ballistic missiles are
particularly relevant for today's missile
specialists. The computer programs provide a
quick reference, and enhance the derivations.
A must have for developers, testers, or
anyone with an interest in missile guidance
and control.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Comments from author on 5th edition, May 16, 2007

By	Paul Zarchan (Lexington, MA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The fifth edition has three new chapters on important topics related to improving missile guidance performance and several important new concepts in the Appendix. The first new chapter presents several alternative ways of developing guidance laws numerically. These techniques can be used to derive more advanced guidance laws when the missile guidance system dynamics become very complex. An example is presented showing the advantages of a new advanced guidance law over more conventional guidance laws. Previous editions of the text have shown that intentional or unintentional spiraling maneuvers on the part of a tactical ballistic missile can also make it particularly difficult for a pursuing missile to hit. Estimating the target weave frequency is a critical component in advanced guidance laws that can be used to counter these spiraling threats. The second new chapter presents a linear Kalman filter bank approach, originally introduced in the 1960's, for accurately estimating the target weave frequency and improving missile guidance system performance. So far, all of the engagement simulations presented in this text have either been in one or two dimensions. This was done to make it easier for the reader to more easily understand all of the concepts presented in the text. The third new chapter provides several examples on how to convert previous engagement simulation code to three dimensions in both the tactical and strategic worlds. A simplified mapping database is included with the text in order to demonstrate how geographical context can be provided in three dimensional strategic engagement simulations. An example of one of the new concepts presented in the Appendix is the use of the discrete Fourier Transform for calculating the miss due to weaving targets. The new topics are treated from both an analytical and simulation point of view so that readers with different backgrounds and learning styles can benefit from the new material.
On a personal note, it has still been very gratifying for me to learn that many people working with or having to learn about missile guidance have found Tactical and Strategic Missile Guidance useful. Over the years many readers have contacted me and have asked questions when the book's material was not clear to them. Material in the existing chapters has been clarified so that all will benefit from my interaction with the readers. It is still my hope that this fifth edition will be of value not only to new readers, but will also be worthwhile to those who have already read the previous editions.

5.0 out of 5 stars Tactical and Strategic Missile Guidance, Fourth Edition , January 18, 2007

By	Garry L. Chessen - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Tactical and Strategic Missile Guidance, Fourth Edition (Progress in Astronautics and Aeronautics) (Hardcover)

Ordering was easy and product arrived quickly.