Target recognition and tracking for a salvo environment

A method performed by processing circuitry of a follow-on object configured for use in a salvo mission in which a plurality of objects, including one or more lead objects (LO) and a follow-on object, are configured to track a target, the method comprising:

• initializing a track state of a tracked object, the tracked object within a sensor field-of-view (FOV) of the follow-on object;
• performing target-state estimator (TSE) processing based on sensor measurements from the sensor FOV to maintain the track state of the tracked object;
• evaluating kinematic characteristics of the tracked object based on the sensor measurements to compute a probability that the tracked object is an LO based on the evaluated kinematic characteristics;
• if the probability is not greater than a threshold, designating the tracked object as the target and resume the TSE processing;
• and
• if the probability is greater than the threshold, designating the tracked object as an LO and re-initializing the track state based on an observed line-of-sight (LOS) velocity and an estimated range of the LO with respect to the follow-on object to help ensure successful tracking of the LO,
• wherein when the tracked object is designated as a LO, the method comprises excluding the track of the LO from some intercept task considerations.

A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium that stores instructions for execution by processing circuitry of a follow-on object configured for use in a salvo mission in which a plurality of objects, including one or more lead objects (LO) and a follow-on object, are configured to track a target, wherein the instructions configure the processing circuitry to:

• initialize a track state of a tracked object, the tracked object within a sensor field-of-view (FOV) of the follow-on object;
• perform target-state estimator (TSE) processing based on sensor measurements from the sensor FOV to maintain the track state of the tracked object;
• evaluate kinematic characteristics of the tracked object based on the sensor measurements to compute a probability that the tracked object is an LO based on the evaluated kinematic characteristics;
• if the probability is not greater than a threshold, designate the tracked object as the target and resume the TSE processing;
• and
• if the probability is greater than the threshold, designate the tracked object as an LO and re-initialize the track state based on an observed line-of-sight (LOS) velocity and an estimated range of the LO with respect to the follow-on object to help ensure successful tracking of the LO,
• wherein when the tracked object is designated as a LO, the processing circuitry is configured to exclude the track of the LO from some intercept task considerations.