Beam riding

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Beam-riding, also known as beam guidance, is a technique of directing a missile to its target by means of radar or a laser beam. It is one of the simplest forms of guidance using radar or lasers.

The main use of this kind of system is to destroy airplanes or tanks. First, an aiming station (possibly mounted in a vehicle) in the launching area directs a narrow radar or laser beam at the enemy aircraft or tank. Then, the missile is launched and at some point after launch is "gathered" by the radar or laser beam when it flies into it. From this stage onwards, the missile attempts to keep itself inside the beam, while the aiming station keeps the beam pointing at the target. The missile, controlled by a computer inside it, "rides" the beam to the target. The aiming station can also use the radar returns of the beam bouncing off the target to track it, or it can be tracked optically or by some other means.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] External links

• Jerzy Maryniak et. al, "Modeling of Motion of an Automatically Controlled Beam-Riding Guided Missile in Terms of the Maggi Equations" (pdf), AIAA Atmospheric Flight Mechanics Conference and Exhibit, August 2005
• Richardson, Mark, and Al-Jaberi, Mubarak, "The vulnerability of laser warning systems against guided weapons based on low power lasers", Cranfield University, April 28, 2006
• Missile Guidance, aerospaceweb.org, accessed March 14, 2007
• Greg Goebel, "Early Radar Technology", February 1, 2007, accessed March 14, 2007
• Carlo Kopp, "Man Portable Surface-Air Missiles", Australian Aviation, July, 1989
• Carlo Kopp, "Active and SemiActive Radar Missle Guidance", Australian Aviation, June 1982