Trajectory Encryption Cooperative Salvo Guidance

--This paper introduces the concept of trajectory encryption in cooperative simultaneous target interception, wherein heterogeneity in guidance principles across a team of unmanned autonomous systems is leveraged as a strategic design feature. By employing a mix of heterogeneous time-to-go formulations leading to a cooperative guidance strategy, the swarm of vehicles is able to generate diverse trajectory families. This diversity expands the feasible solution space for simultaneous target interception, enhances robustness under disturbances, and enables flexible time-to-go adjustments without predictable detouring. From an adversarial perspective, heterogeneity obscures the collective interception intent by preventing straightforward prediction of swarm dynamics, effectively acting as an encryption layer in the trajectory domain. Simulations demonstrate that the swarm of heterogeneous vehicles is able to intercept a moving target simultaneously from a diverse set of initial engagement configurations. Cooperative intercept missions, once limited to large-scale interceptor systems, are also being realized using agile teams of small drones.