3D Intercept Kinematics Engine

Overview#

When a hostile track appears on the air picture, the question every commander asks is the same: can we reach it, and what is the best way to do so? The 3D Intercept Kinematics Engine answers that question in seconds rather than minutes, computing full three-dimensional intercept geometry for live or simulated targets directly inside the platform.

The engine is a complete kinematic solver with three pluggable guidance strategies, Proportional Navigation, Pure Pursuit, and Lead Pursuit (Collision Course), operating on WGS-84 geodetic coordinates with full altitude modelling. Operators register interceptor platform presets, track targets with three-dimensional position and velocity, and obtain a complete intercept solution including the intercept point, time to intercept, closing velocity, lead angle, peak g loading, a feasibility assessment, and a downsampled flight trajectory. A compare-all capability runs every guidance model side by side and returns a confidence-ranked recommendation, so air-defence, counter-UAS, and missile-defence teams can present engagement options without standing up a separate fire-control system. Every solution is multi-tenant isolated and classification-gated from UNCLASSIFIED to SECRET.

Key Features#

Three Pluggable Guidance Models: Proportional Navigation, Pure Pursuit, and Lead Pursuit (Collision Course) are implemented as interchangeable strategies behind a common interface. Each model produces a complete solution for the same target, and new guidance models can be registered at runtime without changing the calling code.
Full 3D WGS-84 Geometry: All engagement geometry is computed on WGS-84 geodetic coordinates with geodesic (haversine) horizontal distance combined with altitude delta, so closing geometry, lead angles, and climb rates reflect true three-dimensional positions rather than a flat-map approximation.
Interceptor Platform Presets: Operators register named platform presets that capture the performance envelope, maximum speed, acceleration envelope, maximum altitude, minimum and maximum range, and seeker field of view. Solutions are clamped to these limits so feasibility reflects the real capability of the chosen effector.
Rich Solution Output: Every solution returns the intercept point, time to intercept, closing velocity, lead angle, peak g loading, total flight path length, a feasibility verdict (feasible, marginal, or impossible), and a trajectory downsampled to a network-friendly point count for display.
Compare-All With Confidence Ranking: A single request runs all registered guidance models in parallel and returns a side-by-side comparison with the highest-confidence solution flagged as the recommendation, giving operators an at-a-glance best option alongside the supporting alternatives.
OpenBurst Engagement Linkage: Engagement records, including weapon type, launch and impact points, hit/miss/abort outcome, kill probability, and miss distance, can be linked back to the solution that produced them, with an OpenBurst engagement identifier carried through for simulator-driven validation.
Real-Time Delivery: Computed solutions are emitted as operational entities for the common operational picture and broadcast over a tenant-scoped publish and subscribe channel, so connected clients receive new and updated solutions live without polling.
Multi-Tenant and Classification-Gated: Platforms, targets, solutions, and engagements all carry an organisation scope and a secrecy level. Access is checked against the operator's clearance on every read and write, keeping each tenant's air picture isolated and classification-aware end to end.

Use Cases#

Air Defence: Evaluate inbound aircraft, cruise missiles, and other air-breathing threats against available interceptor platforms, presenting feasible engagement geometry and recommended guidance approach to the duty controller in seconds.
Counter-UAS: Compute intercept solutions for small, slow, and highly manoeuvring unmanned aircraft, where the choice between a tail-chase and a collision-course solution materially changes whether the engagement closes in time.
Missile Defence: Assess high-speed ballistic and manoeuvring threats with full altitude modelling, comparing guidance models to understand which approach minimises peak g loading and flight path within the effector envelope.
Exercise and Training: Drive the solver from simulated tracks and link OpenBurst engagement outcomes back to each solution, letting teams rehearse threat-to-engagement decision flows and review what the recommended option would have achieved.
Integration and Fusion Centres: Defence integrators connect external track sources and surface intercept geometry on a shared operational picture, reducing the time from threat detection to engagement-option presentation from minutes to seconds.

Integration#

The engine is reached through the platform's GraphQL service. Operators register interceptor platforms and tracked targets, then call the single-solution and compare-all operations to compute and persist intercept results; queries retrieve stored targets, platforms, solutions, and engagements; and a tenant-scoped real-time channel streams new and updated solutions to connected clients as they are produced. All operations require an authenticated session and are rate limited per operator.

External track sources plug in by writing targets with three-dimensional position and North-East-Up velocity vectors, so any sensor or fusion feed that can express a geodetic track can drive the solver. Engagement outcomes from the OpenBurst SAM simulator plug in by linking results back to the originating solution, carrying the OpenBurst engagement identifier alongside hit, miss, and kill-probability data. Computed solutions flow outward automatically as operational entities on the common operational picture and as messages on a per-tenant publish and subscribe channel, giving downstream consumers a normalised, ready-to-display engagement overlay. Authentication uses OAuth2 bearer tokens with JWT session validation, and the same token carries the operator clearance used for classification gating, so a customer connects one credential and gains an isolated, clearance-aware view across every operation.

Open Standards#

WGS-84 (ISO 6709 / EPSG:4326): All positions, velocities, and engagement geometry are expressed in the WGS-84 geodetic reference frame, with geodesic horizontal distance computed by the haversine formula and combined with altitude delta for true three-dimensional range. This keeps tracks and solutions interoperable with any standards-based geospatial source or display.
OAuth2 and JSON Web Tokens (JWT, RFC 7519): Every operation is authorised with an OAuth2 bearer token and a validated JWT session, and the same token conveys the operator clearance used for classification gating.
GraphQL: The full capability, including the real-time solution stream, is exposed over a standard GraphQL service, giving integrators a single typed, self-describing interface for tracks, platforms, solutions, and engagements.
OpenBurst: Engagement records interoperate with the open-source OpenBurst SAM engagement simulator, ingesting hit, miss, and kill-probability outcomes by linking each result to the solution it validates through an OpenBurst engagement identifier.

Security & Compliance#

Multi-Tenant Isolation: Platforms, targets, solutions, and engagements are scoped to the owning organisation, and every read and write is filtered to that scope so no tenant can observe another tenant's air picture.
Classification Gating: Each record carries a secrecy level from UNCLASSIFIED to SECRET, and access is checked against the operator's clearance on every operation, preventing disclosure of solutions above an operator's authorised level.
Authenticated and Rate-Limited Access: All operations require an authenticated session, and solve operations are rate limited per operator to protect the engine under load.
Audit Trail: Solve and compare operations are recorded with the operator, the target, the models run, and the recommended outcome, giving a reviewable record of every engagement-option computation.

Last Reviewed: 2026-05-26 Last Updated: 2026-05-26