Abstract: For the target assignment problem of networked aircraft swarms intercepting multiple maneuvering targets in complex operational environments, a distributed unbalanced dynamic target assignment algorithm considering communication and field-of-view (FOV) constraints is proposed. Comprehensively accounting for communication delays and FOV constraints, a local dynamic target assignment model is built based on the limited communication hop count mechanism. An adaptive network dynamic reconfiguration mechanism is designed for topological changes of local networked systems in dynamic environments, and adaptive adjustment of local network topology is realized by clarifying inter-aircraft information interaction. On this basis, a multi-cycle consensus target assignment algorithm is developed. To handle frequent bid updates caused by target maneuvering and assignment conflicts in local dynamic environments, a threshold-based dynamic auction algorithm and multi-cycle consensus local conflict resolution rules are designed. By limiting bid update frequency and designing resolution rules based on new consensus variables, stable, fast and high-precision conflict resolution in dynamic environments is achieved. Simulation results show the algorithm solves the unbalanced dynamic target assignment of aircraft swarms under communication and FOV constraints, and can effectively improve the assignment effectiveness during the process as well as the terminal interception probability.

Key words: multi-aircraft cooperation, dynamic target assignment, distributed auction, communication constraints, field-of-view constraints