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TacticalairnavigationsystemWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

Tacticalairnavigationsystem
FromWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

Atacticalairnavigationsystem,commonlyreferredtobythe
acronymTACAN,isanavigationsystemusedbymilitaryaircraft.
Itprovidestheuserwithbearinganddistance(slantrange)toa
groundorshipbornestation.Itisamoreaccurateversionofthe
VOR/DMEsystemthatprovidesbearingandrangeinformationfor
civilaviation.TheDMEportionoftheTACANsystemisavailable
forciviluseatVORTACfacilitieswhereaVORiscombinedwitha
TACAN,civilaircraftcanreceiveVOR/DMEreadings.Aircraft
equippedwithTACANavionicscanusethissystemforenroute
navigationaswellasnonprecisionapproachestolandingfields.
Thespaceshuttleisonesuchvehiclethatwasdesignedtouse
TACANnavigationbutlaterupgradedwithGPSasareplacement.[1]

VORTACTGO(TANGO)Germany.
TheTACANantennaisthehighest
antennainthecenteroftheimage.

ThetypicalTACANonboarduserpanelhascontrolswitchesfor
settingthechannel(correspondingtothedesiredsurfacestation's
assignedfrequency),theoperationmodeforeitherTransmit/Receive
(T/R,togetbothbearingandrange)orReceiveOnly(REC,toget
bearingbutnotrange).Capabilitywaslaterupgradedtoincludean
AirtoAirmode(A/A)wheretwoairborneuserscangetrelative
slantrangeinformation.Dependingontheinstallation,AirtoAir
modemayproviderange,closure(relativevelocityoftheother
unit),andbearing,[2]thoughanairtoairbearingisnoticeablyless
precisethanagroundtoairbearing.ATACANequippedaircraft
cannotreceivebearinginformationfromaVORstation.

Contents

ThissymboldenotesaTACAN
installationonanaeronauticalchart.

1
2
3
4
5
6
7

History
Operation
Accuracy
Benefits
Drawbacks
Future
Seealso
7.1 References
8 Externallinks

History

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TheTACANnavigationsystemisanevolutionofradiotranspondernavigationsystemsthatdatebackto
theBritishOboesystemofWorldWarII.IntheUnitedStatesmanycompanieswereinvolvedwiththe
developmentofTACANformilitaryaircraft.HoffmanElectronicsMilitaryProductsDivision(now
NavComDefenseElectronics(http://www.navcom.com/)wasaleaderindevelopingthepresentTACAN
systemintheUSstartinginthelate1950s.

Operation
TACANingeneralcanbedescribedasthemilitaryversionofthe
VOR/DMEsystem.Itoperatesinthefrequencyband9601215MHz.The
bearingunitofTACANismoreaccuratethanastandardVORsinceit
makesuseofatwofrequencyprinciple,with15Hzand135Hz
components,andbecauseUHFtransmissionsarelesspronetosignal
bendingthanVHF.
ThedistancemeasurementcomponentofTACANoperateswiththesame
specificationsascivilDMEs.Thereforetoreducethenumberofrequired
stations,TACANstationsarefrequentlycolocatedwithVORfacilities.
ThesecolocatedstationsareknownasVORTACs.Thisisastation
composedofaVORforcivilbearinginformationandaTACANfor
militarybearinginformationandmilitary/civildistancemeasuring
information.TheTACANtransponderperformsthefunctionofaDME
withouttheneedforaseparate,colocatedDME.Becausetherotationofthe
antennacreatesalargeportionoftheazimuth(bearing)signal,ifthe
antennafails,theazimuthcomponentisnolongeravailableandtheTACAN
downgradestoaDMEonlymode.

AUSAirForceTACAN
Antenna.

Accuracy
TheoreticallyaTACANshouldprovidea9foldincreaseinaccuracycomparedtoaVORbutoperational
usehasshownonlyanapproximate3foldincrease.[3]
Accuracyofthe135Hzazimuthcomponentis1or63mat3.47km.[4]AccuracyoftheDMEportionis
926m(0.5nauticalmile)or3percentofslantrangedistance,whicheverisgreaterseeFAA9840.1
1982.[4]
TACANstationscanprovidedistanceupto390nauticalmiles.
ModernTACANsaremuchmoreaccurate.TherequirementnowistohaveportableTACANthatisIFR
certifiable,bothStationandPortablesystems.ThelatestmodernversionofTACANhasbeentestedtoan
averageerrorof0.00inbothrangeandazimuth,andcouldbeafeasiblebackuptofutureAirTraffic
ControlSystemsandmayevenbeintegratedintosystemsforaseamlessbackup.
PastTACANshavereliedonhighoutputpower(upto10,000Watts)toensuregoodsignalinspaceto
overcomenullspresentinantennadesignandtoprovidetheirrequired200milerange.Withthe
advancementoftechnology,antennadesignhasimprovedwithhighergainantennas,muchshallowernulls,
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andlighterconstruction.Nowit'sfeasibletohavea200nmirangewitha400WattTACANDME
Transmitter,makingtheTACANpackagemuchsmaller,moreportableandmorereliable(Power=Heat
whichshortensthelifeofelectronics).
TACANisgettingsmaller:FullTACANcoveragecannowbeprovidedinasystemthatcanbecarriedona
singletrailerweighinglessthan4000lbs,andsetupbytwopeopleinlessthananhour.TACAN
Transceiverscannowbeassmallaslunchboxes(withfullcoverageandrange)andtheantennascanbe
reducedfrom800poundstolessthan100pounds.

Benefits
Becausetheazimuthandrangeunitsarecombinedinonesystemitprovides
forsimplerinstallation.LessspaceisrequiredthanaVORbecauseaVOR
requiresalargecounterpoiseandafairlycomplexphasedantennasystem.A
TACANsystemtheoreticallymightbeplacedonabuilding,alargetruck,
anairplane,oraship,andbeoperationalinashortperiodoftime.An
airborneTACANreceivercanbeusedinairtoairmodewhichallowstwo
cooperatingaircrafttofindtheirrelativebearingsanddistance.

Drawbacks

AshipboardTACANantennaonUSS
Raleigh(LPD1)withalightningrod
extendingaboveit.

Formilitaryusageaprimary
drawbackislackoftheabilityto
controlemissions(EMCON)and
stealth.NavalTACANoperations
TACANantennaatShemya,
aredesignedsoanaircraftcanfind
Alaska.
theshipandland.Thereisno
encryptioninvolved,anenemycan
simplyusetherangeandbearingprovidedtoattackashipequipped
withaTACAN.SomeTACANshavetheabilitytoemploya
"DemandOnly"modewhereintheywillonlytransmitwhen
interrogatedbyanaircraftonchannel.ItislikelythatTACANwill
bereplacedwithadifferentialGPSsystemsimilartotheLocalArea
AugmentationSystemcalledJPALS.TheJointPrecisionApproach
andLandingSystemhasalowprobabilityofintercepttoprevent
enemydetectionandanaircraftcarrierversioncanbeusedfor
autolandoperations.

SomesystemsusedintheUnitedStatesmodulatethetransmittedsignalbyusinga900RPMrotating
antenna.Sincethisantennaisfairlylargeandmustrotate24hoursaday,itcancausereliabilityissues.
Modernsystemshaveantennasthatuseelectronicrotation(insteadofmechanicalrotation)withnomoving
parts.

Future

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Likeallotherformsofgroundbasedaircraftradionavigationcurrentlyused,itislikelythatTACANwill
eventuallybereplacedbysomeformofspacebasednavigationalsystemsuchasGPS.[5]

Seealso
BattleofLimaSite85(SACTACANcapturedMarch1968)
DistanceMeasuringEquipment
VHFOmnidirectionalRange
GlobalPositioningSystem
WideAreaAugmentationSystem
ElectronicsTechnician

References
1.Goodman,J.L.Propst,C.A.(2008),"OperationaluseofGPSnavigationforspaceshuttleentry",Position,
LocationandNavigationSymposium,2008IEEE/ION(May2008):731743,doi:10.1109/PLANS.2008.4570031
2.RockwellInternational(July7,1992)."AircraftrendezvoususinglowdataratetwowayTACANbearing
information".
3.AlbertHelfrick(2009)."Principleofavionics5thedition"(book).
4.DepartmentofTransportationandDepartmentofDefense(March25,2002)."2001FederalRadionavigation
Systems"(PDF).RetrievedNovember27,2005.
5.DepartmentofTransportationandDepartmentofDefense(March25,2002)."2001FederalRadionavigation
Plan"(PDF).RetrievedAugust2,2006.

Externallinks
RantecMicrowaveSystemsManufacturerofnonrotating
WikimediaCommonshas
TACANantennas(http://www.rantecmdm.com/tacan.htm)
mediarelatedtoTacticalair
Completewithantennainternalphotosandspecs
navigationsystem.
MoogNavigationandSurveillanceSystems
(http://www.moog.com/products/navigationsurveillancesystems/)Fixedsite,shipboard,mobile
andmanportableTACANsystems
Retrievedfrom"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?
title=Tactical_air_navigation_system&oldid=716921319"
Categories: Avionics Radionavigation Aircraftinstruments Airnavigation
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