Air navigation in the national airspace system, 2000-2010

With the replacement of existing Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) radionavigation aids with Global Positioning System (GPS), new GPS supplemental air navigation procedures and requirements, the military strategic planners must consider the impact on Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) navigation in the NAS, in particular combat aircraft. According to the 1994 Federal Radionavigation Plan (FRP), the FAA will begin decommissioning ground-based TACANs in the year 2000 and VORs in the year 2005. The FRP further states that the military will begin decommissioning their ground-based TACANs in 2005. During the decommissioning period, there will be areas in the NAS where VOR and TACAN coverage will be unavailable to military aircraft. Unless the military begins a concerted effort to prepare for the eventuality of the absence of ground-based radionavigation aids, critical training flights may suffer in the future. Why plan now? The long procurement funding cycle makes it imperative that long range planning begin as soon as possible.