Adaption of Modified Point Mass Model for Efficient Trajectory Parameters Computation of Artillery Rockets

Abstract

The modified point mass (MPM) model is principally used to simulate trajectories of spinning projectiles. In this paper modified point mass model is used to simulate the trajectory of unguided rocket. The result of the modified point mass model tuned for drag and tipoff are compared with six degree of freedom trajectory (6 DOF) model. The difference between tuned MPM and 6 DOF calculation for maximum velocity, maximum spin, range, vertex height, time of flight, angle of descent and impact velocity is less than 0.13% for all the elevations. The MPM also gives reliable and acceptable result for all standard and nonstandard conditions with compare to 6 DOF. MPM can be a good choice even for artillery rocket trajectories where computation time is critical parameter to select the model.