Apparatus, method and computer program product for weapon flyout modeling and target damage assessment

Abstract

A weapon flyout simulation method, system, and computer program product, includes modeling a target as a plurality of ellipsoidal zones corresponding to a plurality of zones on the target, and performing hit/miss assessment on the target by determining if said trajectory of the weapon interferes with at least one of said plurality of ellipsoids.

1 . A weapon flyout simulation method, comprising:
 modeling a target as a plurality of ellipsoidal zones corresponding to a plurality of zones on the target; and   determining whether a trajectory of a weapon interferes with at least one of said plurality of ellipsoids.   
   
   
       2 . The weapon flyout simulation method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 determining whether a the weapon has reached a closest point of approach of the target.   
   
   
       3 . The weapon flyout simulation method of  claim 2 , wherein said step of determining whether a the weapon has reached a closest point of approach of the target comprises:
 determining a relative position of the target with respect to the weapon;   calculating an engagement closure state for the weapon based on said relative position;   comparing said engagement closure state to a previous engagement closure state; and   denoting that said closest point of approach has been reached based on a change in said engagement closure state.   
   
   
       4 . The weapon flyout simulation method of  claim 2 , wherein said step of determining if said trajectory of the weapon interferes with at least one of said plurality of ellipsoidal zones comprises:
 computing an elliptical magnitude at said point of closest approach based on parameters relating to said at least one ellipsoidal zone; and   determining whether said trajectory of the weapon interferes with said at least one ellipsoidal zone based on said elliptical magnitude.   
   
   
       5 . The weapon flyout simulation method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 transforming a trajectory of the weapon to a target zone coordinate frame for each of said plurality of ellipsoidal zones;   wherein said step of determining whether a trajectory of a weapon interferes with at least one of said plurality of ellipsoids is performed using said trajectory of the weapon in said target zone coordinate frame.   
   
   
       6 . The weapon flyout simulation method of  claim 5 , wherein said step of transforming a trajectory of the weapon comprises:
 determining coordinates of the weapon and the target in an engagement coordinate frame;   transforming a trajectory of the weapon from said engagement coordinate to a target body coordinate frame; and   transforming said trajectory of the weapon from said target body coordinate to said target zone coordinate frame for each of said plurality of ellipsoids.   
   
   
       7 . The weapon flyout simulation method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 computing impact coordinates on the target.   
   
   
       8 . The weapon flyout simulation method of  claim 7 , wherein said step of computing impact coordinates comprises:
 calculating impact coordinates in a target zone coordinate system based on a point of closest approach for at least one of said plurality of ellipsoidal zones; and   determining impact location in a target body coordinate system by rotating said impact coordinates from said target zone coordinate system.   
   
   
       9 . The weapon flyout simulation method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 computing a miss distance of the target by the weapon.   
   
   
       10 . The weapon flyout simulation method of  claim 9 , wherein said step of computing a miss distance of the target by the weapon comprises:
 computing a first vector representing said trajectory of the weapon;   computing a second vector representing a distance a first trajectory point of the weapon and a centroid of at least one of said plurality of ellipsoidal zones;   computing a third vector indicating a direction of a line running from said centroid of said at least one ellipsoidal zone perpendicular to said first vector based on said first and second vectors;   scaling a magnitude of said third vector to unity to obtain a unit direction vector; and   computing a miss vector based on a dot product of said unit direction vector and said second vector.   
   
   
       11 . The weapon flyout simulation method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 assessing impact damage on said target.   
   
   
       12 . The weapon flyout simulation method of  claim 11 , wherein said step of assessing impact damage is based on at least one of a weapon lethality, a target survivability, or a zone sensitivity of at least one of said plurality of ellipsoidal zones. 
   
   
       13 . The weapon flyout simulation method of  claim 11 , wherein said step of assessing impact damage comprises:
 determining a weapon lethality of the weapon;   determining an effective lethality of the weapon on the target based on said weapon lethality and a zone sensitivity of at least one of said plurality of ellipsoidal zones; and   determining if said effective lethality exceeds a survivability threshold of the target.   
   
   
       14 . The weapon flyout simulation method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 assessing damage to the target based on proximate detonation of the weapon.   
   
   
       15 . The weapon flyout simulation method of  claim 14 , wherein said step of assessing damage to the target comprises:
 computing a miss distance to a centroid of at least one of said plurality of ellipsoidal zones;   computing a range loss for said miss distance;   determining weapon lethality of the weapon;   determining effective lethality of the weapon on the target based on said weapon lethality, a zone sensitivity of at least one of said plurality of ellipsoidal zones, and said range loss; and   determining if said effective lethality exceeds a survivability threshold of the target.   
   
   
       16 . The weapon flyout simulation method of  claim 1 , wherein said target comprises an aircraft. 
   
   
       17 . The weapon flyout simulation method of  claim 16 , wherein said plurality of zones on the target comprise at least one of:
 a circumscribing sphere;   a forward fuselage;   an aft fuselage;   a left sing;   a right wing;   a left rear stabilizer;   a right rear stabilizer;   a vertical stabilizer; and   an extra surface.   
   
   
       18 . A weapon flyout simulation system comprising:
 a target modeling unit adapted to model a target as a plurality of ellipsoidal zones corresponding to a plurality of zones on the target; and   a hit/miss assessment unit adapted to determine if a trajectory of a weapon interferes with at least one of said plurality of ellipsoids.   
   
   
       19 . The weapon flyout simulation system of  claim 18 , further comprising:
 a closest point of approach determination unit adapted to determine if the weapon has reached a closest point of approach of the target.   
   
   
       20 . The weapon flyout simulation system of  claim 19 , wherein said hit/miss assessment unit is adapted to compute an elliptical magnitude at said point of closest approach based on parameters relating to said at least one ellipsoidal zone, and determine whether said trajectory of the weapon interferes with said at least one ellipsoidal zone based on said elliptical magnitude. 
   
   
       21 . The weapon flyout simulation system of  claim 18 , further comprising:
 a coordinate transformation unit adapted to transform a trajectory of the weapon to a target zone coordinate frame for each of said plurality of ellipsoidal zones;   wherein said hit/miss assessment unit determines if a trajectory of the weapon in said target zone coordinate frame interferes with at least one of said plurality of ellipsoids.   
   
   
       22 . The weapon flyout simulation system of  claim 18 , further comprising:
 an impact coordinate computation unit adapted to compute impact coordinates on the target based on a point of closest approach for at least one of said plurality of ellipsoidal zones.   
   
   
       23 . The weapon flyout simulation system of  claim 18 , further comprising:
 a miss distance computation unit adapted to compute a distance by which the weapon has missed the target.   
   
   
       24 . The weapon flyout simulation system of  claim 18 , further comprising:
 an impact damage assessment unit adapted to assess impact damage on said target based on at least one of weapon lethality, target survivability, or zone sensitivity of at least one of said plurality of ellipsoidal zones.   
   
   
       25 . The weapon flyout simulation system of  claim 18 , further comprising:
 a proximate damage assessment unit adapted to assess damage to the target based on proximate detonation of the weapon.   
   
   
       26 . The weapon flyout simulation system of  claim 18 , wherein said target comprises an aircraft and said plurality of zones on the target comprise at least one of:
 a circumscribing sphere;   a forward fuselage;   an aft fuselage;   a left sing;   a right wing;   a left rear stabilizer;   a right rear stabilizer;   a vertical stabilizer; and   an extra surface.   
   
   
       27 . A computer readable medium embodying program logic, which, when executed, performs a method comprising:
 modeling a target as a plurality of ellipsoidal zones corresponding to a plurality of zones on the target; and   determining whether a trajectory of a weapon interferes with at least one of said plurality of ellipsoids.