Systems and methods for guiding munitions

A radio frequency guided munition comprising:

• a chassis configured to rotate at an angular velocity upon launch, the rotation substantially along a line of flight axis of said munition;
• at least one control surface mounted on said chassis;
• a radio frequency receiver mounted within said chassis, said radio frequency receiver comprising an antenna, said antenna mounted such that a main beam of an antenna pattern associated with said antenna is offset from the line of flight axis of the munition by an angle, said antenna configured to receive signals transmitted by a target;
• and
• a circuit to process signals received from said radio frequency receiver, said circuit configured to generate elevation and azimuth corrections to direct said munition towards the target based on variances in amplitude of the received signals transmitted by the target, said circuit to cause said at least one control surface to change a line of night for said munition based on generated elevation and azimuth corrections.

A radio frequency (RF) receiver for a guided munition, said RF receiver comprising:

• an antenna mounted such that a main beam of an antenna pattern associated with said antenna is offset from line of flight axis of the guided munition by an angle and configured to receive transmissions from a target;
• a peak detecting circuit configured to receive signals representative of RF signals received by said antenna and output an absolute value of the amplitude of the signals;
• an averaging circuit configured to receive an output of said peak detecting circuit;
• and
• a differencing circuit configured to receive an output of said peak detecting circuit and an output of said averaging circuit, an output of said differencing circuit indicative of an error between a line of flight axis of the guided munition and a line of sight from the guided munition to the target.

A method of implementing radio frequency guidance for a munition, said method comprising:

• installing a radio frequency receiver within the munition;
• mounting an antenna for the receiver such that a main beam of the antenna pattern for the antenna is offset from a line of flight axis of the munition by an angle;
• configuring the munition to rotate along an axis substantially similar to a longitudinal axis of the munition;
• programming the munition to process signals received at the antenna;
• and
• configuring the munition to change a position of at least one control surface of the munition based on the processed signals.