Capture zones in a pursuit-evasion game

Necessary and sufficient conditions for the existence of capture zones in a pursuit-evasion game between a guided missile and its aerial target are derived. Forward canard or aft tail controlled interceptor and target, both having first order biproper transfer functions to represent their closed loop maneuver dynamics, are studied. A distinction is made between open and closed capture zones in the game space; and it is shown that locating the control surface forward, instead of aft, provides considerable advantages with regard to the existence and size of the different capture zones. A new game space decomposition with two singular regions is also presented and conditions for its existence are given.