GB1480508A - Missile guidance systems - Google Patents

Abstract

1480508 Missile guidance systems FERRANTI Ltd 5 Sept 1975 [6 Sept 1974] 38949/74 Heading H4D A missile guidance system includes a laser 1 mounted at a guidance station for the transmission of pulses of laser radiation 2 towards a target, means on the missile for reflecting a portion of the radiation back to the station, means (Fig. 4) carried in the missile and responsive to control instructions conveyed to it by the radiation, and means (Fig. 2) at the station responsive to radiation reflected by the missile to cause the laser to transmit the necessary instructions, which are in the form of pulses (Fig. 3, not shown) each representing an instruction the nature of which is indicated by the time lapse between the pulse and the immediately preceding one. Reflected radiation is sensed by a quadrant detector 4 whose outputs cause a unit 9 to transmit to an encoder 10 signals representing the missile position in elevation and azimuth relative to the axis of symmetry of the detector. When the output of a counter 11 (reset at the last laser pulse) coincides with the output of encoder 10, a comparator 13 causes laser 1 to operate and the counter to be reset. In the receiver, a similar counter 32 begins counting on receipt of a pulse; receipt of the next pulse causes its count to be transferred to a decoder 31 which produces control signals E1, A2 together with "increase attenuation" and "decrease attenuation" signals 1A, DA as required to control the rate of response of the missile. The transmitted and reflected pulses may be used to measure the distance of the missile from the guidance station.