High-Accuracy Approximate Solutions for Hypersonic Gliding Trajectory with Large Lateral Maneuvering Range

Closed-form approximate solutions are derived to predict 3-D atmospheric gliding trajectory of hypersonic glide vehicle accurately under high-maneuver flight condition where the lateral maneuvering range can be up to 4000 km. By contrast, the valid maneuvering range for the existing analytical solutions is less than 1500 km. However, high-intensity maneuver makes the motions in longitudinal and lateral planes seriously coupled and thus greatly increases the nonlinearity of flight dynamics. For the sake of simplification, a new flight dynamics model based on generalized longitude and latitude is introduced according to the trajectory characteristics. Then, the dynamics model is simplified reasonably by giving full consideration to the coupling of the longitudinal and lateral motions as well as the effect of the curvature and rotation of Earth. The simplified model is still very complicated. Subsequently, by the skillful use of the perturbation technique, the model is further decomposed into three subsystems that can be solved analytically in a tricky way, and thus the closed-form solutions are obtained successfully. As verified by the simulation results, the accuracy of the new solutions is much higher than the existing solutions in the case of high-maneuver flight.