PUNTO UTM = ZONA + QUADRATO di 100 km + COORD. E/O + COORD.

N/S + QUOTA
TACP:
IP:
DP:
CTB:
ACA:
FSO :

Tactical Air Control Party

Initial Point
Decision Point
CAS Target Box
Airspace Coordination Area
Fire Support Officer

Provincia VR = 32 TPL
Scala mappa x CAS: 1:250000 (1mm=250m)

Margini derrore
3 cifre = 100 m (es. 123 -123 ) friend
4 cifre = 10 m (es. 1234 -1234 )
5 cifre = 1 m (es. 12345-12345) foe
digit

km

km

999 m

99,900

0,100

100

9.999 dm

99,990

0,010

10

99.999 cm

99,999

0,001

Typically, and in accordance with JCAS doctrine, an enemy position is sent as a 10-digit coordinate and a
friendly position is sent as a 6-digit coordinate. This is done for several reasons. First, an enemy position is sent
as a 10-digit coordinate if a GPS is used to improve the accuracy of the weapon system. Conversely, the
coordinates of a friendly position is passed as a 6-digit coordinate to decrease the accuracy of any enemy
weapon system that might be employed against them if the enemy has signal interception capability. In this
case, if the Taliban somehow had the ability to intercept U.S. transmissions, the friendly position sent via the
radio would only give the Taliban the ability to target friendly positions down to the nearest hundreds of meters.
There might be just enough of a built-in error with the 6-digit coordinate to allow U.S or coalition forces to escape
injury if an attack were executed utilizing the intercepted transmissions and friendly coordinates. If the friendly
position coordinates are transmitted to orbiting aircraft in the 10-digit format, with the intent to help them identify
and not target friendly forces on the ground, and the Taliban were able to intercept these coordinates, any attack
they might be able to mount utilizing indirect fire support would be that much more accurate.

The Military Grid Reference System (MGRS) is the geocoordinate standard used by NATO militaries for
locating points on the earth. The MGRS is derived from the UTM (Universal Transverse Mercator) grid system,
but uses a different labeling convention. The MGRS is used for the areas of the earth between 84N to 80S, and
180W to 180E. In the polar regions, MGRS is based on the Universal Polar Stereographic system.
An example of an MGRS coordinate, or grid reference, would be 04QFJ12345678, which consists of three parts:

04Q (grid zone designator, GZD),

FJ (the 100,000-meter square identifier), and
12345678 (numerical location; easting is 1234 and northing is 5678, in this case specifying a location
within a 10m square).

An MGRS grid reference does not describe a point on the earth's surface, but rather a square area of 10 km
10 km, 1 km 1 km, 100 m 100 m, 10 m 10 m or 1 m 1 m, depending on the precision of the coordinates
provided. (In some cases, squares adjacent to a Grid Zone Junction (GZJ) are clipped, so polygon is a better
descriptor of these areas.) The total number of characters must be 7, 9, 11, 13, and 15, respectively, depending
on the desired precision. All points within that square share the same MGRS coordinate. When changing
precision levels, it is important to truncate rather than round the easting and northing values to ensure the more
precise polygon will remain within the boundaries of the less precise polygon. Related to this is the primacy of

the southwest corner of the polygon being the labeling point for the entire polygon. In instances where the
polygon is not a square and has been clipped by a grid zone junction, the polygon keeps the label of the
southwest corner as if it had not been clipped.

04Q ..............................3 characters - GZD, precision level 6 8 (in most cases)

04QFJ ..........................5 characters - GZD and 100km SQ_ID, precision level 100 km
04QFJ16 ......................precision level 10 km
04QFJ1267 ...........precision level 1 km
04QFJ123678 ..............precision level 100 m
04QFJ12346789 ..........precision level 10 m
04QFJ1234567890 ...precision level 1 m

Such an MGRS coordinate, standing alone, may be converted to latitude and longitude. But you still do not know
the position on the Earth, unless you also know the geodetic datum that is used.

World Geodetic System-84