Design of missile altitude control system with variable structures

Flying height is an important tactic index of missile performances. The traditional design method of a missile altitude control system is the PID control, which does not satisfy the demand of some control systems. The disturbance issues must be solved when a missile flies at a low altitude over sea. Hence, the altitude control system design of the missile with variable structures is introduced. Simulation results suggest that this design is feasible and robust. The performance of variable structure control is better than that of PID control. Moreover, it is easy to implement digital control of missiles.