How to calculate turn heading to a missile?
- by Tony
I have a missile that is shot from a ship at an angle, the missile then turns towards the target in an arc with a given turn radius. How do I determine the point on the arc when I need to start turning so the missile is heading straight for the target?
EDIT
What I need to do before I launch the missiles is calculate and draw the flight paths. So in the attached example the launch vehicle has a heading of 90 deg and the targets are behind it. Both missiles are launched at a relative heading of -45deg or + 45 deg to the launch vehicle's heading. The missiles initially turn towards the target with a known turn radius. I have to calculate the point at which the turn takes the missile to heading at which it will turn to directly attack the target. Obviously if the target is at or near 45 degrees then there is no initial turn the missile just goes straight for the target.
After the missile is launched the map will also show the missile tracking on this line as indication of its flight path.
What I am doing is working on a simulator which mimics operational software. So I need to draw the calculated flight path before I allow the missile to be launched.
In this example the targets are behind the launch vehicle but the precalculated paths are drawn.
