Operational Navigation
Introduction
INTRODUCTION
The Master Curriculum Guide and flight instructor will determine exactly which advanced T-45C
navigation features you'll use on specific training missions. As you know, the T-45C is equipped with
a superb navigation suite that includes cockpit readouts for true airspeed, groundspeed, true
heading, drift angle, ground track, and wind direction/velocity. Additionally, waypoint coordinates can
be entered, and steering information is then provided to the pilot. All of these features can be
employed to greatly simplify the task of navigation.
Advanced aircraft navigation systems are now installed in most frontline military aircraft. However,
instruction in this phase of your Naval pilot training concerns itself with fundamental pilotage and
navigation--fundamentals that you must comprehend and master. You must be able to navigate
competently, even when advanced navigation systems malfunction or are not installed in your
assigned aircraft. Mastery of basic navigation and pilotage skills will enhance your professional
judgment, making you a more confident, safer, and better military pilot.
As a student Naval pilot, you are training for a wide variety of tactical and strategic missions.
Specific tactics have been developed for each type of mission and are frequently updated and
.
improved to keep pace with new technology and enemy defenses. With all the differing technology,
however, some of the goals and requirements of flying these missions remain the same. You must
be able to navigate to a target, successfully perform your assigned task, and egress to friendly
territory. In order to perform the mission and return safely, you must avoid detection, potentially
hazardous location, and enemy defenses.
Enemy defenses improve with technology and vary in intensity and employment. Despite intelligence
reports, pilots face an unknown element over enemy territory, and tactics must be flexible. You must
be able to plan your mission around the best intelligence available, taking advantage of terrain,
weather, tactics, and weakness in enemy defenses.
Sophisticated navigation equipment has extended operational capabilities beyond the restrictions of
night or adverse weather. However, no enemy nation will provide you with a convenient TACAN/
DME fix or a VOR to help you get to your target. In addition, battle damage may deny you the use of
your inertial and GPS navigation system. You must, therefore, be prepared to carry out your mission
using dead reckoning techniques (time, distance, and heading) to update position with reference to
geographic checkpoints.
The Operational Navigation Flight Procedures are an important segment of training for strike pilots.
The purpose of this training stage is twofold: (1) to introduce mission planning and chart
interpretation for correct pilotage methods, and (2) to introduce basic multiplane reconnaissance
techniques.
(4-03) Original
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