Guidance

First book in the Principles of Guided Missile Design series, edited by Grayson Merrill. From the inside flap of the dust jacket: An increasingly large portion of scientific and industrial effort is being directed toward research and development on guided missiles. This first book in the Principles of Guided Missile Design series brings together the most recent information on the key topic of Guidance. Every basic problem encountered in directing a controlled missile reliably to its target is considered. From a discussion of fundamental problems, the book proceeds to the different methods for obtaining intelligence of a target by employment of infrared, radio and acoustic waves, and fixing its location by terrestrial and celestial references. It covers the mathematical groundwork needed for solving guidance problems and gives an unusually lucid exposition or related servo system theory. Tactical considerations limiting the employment of guided missiles, an analysis of the several flight trajectories, the uses of radar in tracking targets, and bandwidth studies are given in detail. Among the other topics covered are guidance problems arising during the prelaunching and launching phases, economic considerations, the influence of airframe design upon choice of guidance systems, and methods of simulation, computation and telemetry. An invaluable survey of guidance devices and techniques, this book is an essential background for work with missile guidance systems, even for those already in the field.