Cooperative pinning game strategy against an attacking missile: Theory and experiment

In this study, modeling based on game theory and strategic reasoning is employed to investigate a critical three-player conflict scenario involving active target defense engagement. In this scenario, a target aircraft deploys a defending missile to intercept an adversarial attacking missile that follows proportional navigation. Distinct from existing studies that primarily consider target evasive maneuvers or focus solely on the strategy of the defending missile, this study introduces a stationary virtual pinning point and proposes a cooperative pinning game (CPG) strategy, where the target aircraft actively maneuvers to geometrically constrain the trajectory of the attacking missile to pass through this point. This creates a predictable flight path for the attacking missile, enabling the defending missile to achieve head-on interception. First, an active target defense model is formulated, incorporating an attacking missile, a defending missile, a target aircraft, and a pinning point. Thereafter, a CPG strategy is proposed, where guidance laws for pinning and defense are jointly designed to meet the strategic requirements, and a feasible pinning point region is determined to ensure that the strategy can be practically implemented. Furthermore, a physical verification system is developed using multiple unmanned ground vehicles. Finally, numerical simulations and physical experiments are conducted to validate the effectiveness of the proposed strategy and its hardware adaptability.