Military Avionics Systems

8Navigation

8.1 Navigation Principles

8.1.1 Introduction

Navigation has been an ever-present component of humankind’s exploitation of the capability of flight. While the principles of navigation have not changed since the early days of sail, the increased speed of flight, particularly with the advent of the jet age, has placed an increased emphasis upon accurate navigation. The increasingly busy skies, together with rapid technology developments, have emphasised the need for higher-accuracy navigation and the means to accomplish it. Navigation is no longer a matter of merely getting from A to B safely, it is about doing this in a fuel-efficient manner, keeping to tight airline schedules, and avoiding other air traffic – commercial, general aviation, leisure and military. Navigation of military aircraft has to comply with the same regulations as civil traffic when operating in controlled airspace. Platforms adopted from civil aircraft will retain the civil navigation systems as described in the companion volume ’Civil Avionics Systems’ (Moir and Seabridge, 2003), some of which are described here for ease of reference. More than likely, legacy military platforms will be fitted with a bespoke system meeting most but possibly not all the latest requirements specified for controlled airspace and may on occasion need to operate with certain limitations until the necessary upgrades are embodied.

Outside controlled airspace in operational theatres the navigational accuracy will be ...