Track-via-missile
Missile guidance technique
Track-via-missile or TVM refers to a missile guidance technique which combines features of semi-active radar homing (SARH) and radio command guidance. This avoids the problems with terminal accuracy normally seen by command guided missiles, especially at long range. It has been used on a number of long-range surface-to-air missiles (SAMs) including the MIM-104 Patriot.
Explanation
Command guidance has the advantage of isolating most of the equipment for the missile guidance at the launcher, where size and weight are significantly less important. In these systems, the radar that provides guidance is on the ground or ship and the missile lacks an independent guidance system. Typically two radars are used, one tracking the target and another the missile, so that they can fly independent and widely separated paths. A computer then calculates the position and velocity of the two and calculates an intercept point. The same computer then calculates the control inputs needed to fly the missile to that point and sends any required corrections to the missile via a radio signal, often using the radar tracking the missile as the radio signal.
As this system is simple to build, it was used as the basis for many early surface-to-air missile (SAM) systems. However, it has a significant drawback, especially for long-range fire.
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This entry incorporates text from “Track-via-missile” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.