TACAN+ Tactical Airborne Navigation System

Why TACAN+

TACAN+ is a tactical airborne navigation system that delivers fail-safe performance for mission-critical operations through dual-channel redundancy and automatic switchover. Multi-layer fault detection resolves issues in real time without pilot input, maintaining navigation integrity during component or signal failures.

Ruggedized to military standards, this navigation system withstands vibration, electromagnetic interference, and extreme temperatures - delivering accurate bearing and range data in contested or degraded environments.

Backed by 60+ years of heritage, TACAN+ combines advanced capability with full legacy compatibility, enabling seamless integration across modern and legacy military aircraft platforms.

What this means for you

• Regulatory compliance and future-proofing: Acron's TACAN+ meets current and emerging military aviation standards, ensuring long-term global compliance. Its modular, software-driven architecture enables rapid updates to evolving regulations and mission needs, preventing obsolescence and sustaining operational readiness.
• Cost savings versus legacy systems: TACAN+ lowers total ownership costs through reduced maintenance, extended MTBF, and efficient power use. By replacing outdated, high-maintenance systems, operators gain higher reliability and performance while minimizing lifecycle expenses, spare-parts demands, and fleet support burdens.
• Easy integration without rewiring: TACAN+ is a direct form-fit-function replacement that integrates seamlessly with existing avionics. Its flexible interface options eliminate costly rewiring or aircraft modifications, enabling faster installation, reduced labor, and a smooth transition from legacy systems to next-generation capability.
• Operational efficiency and minimal downtime: TACAN+ enhances mission tempo with rapid signal acquisition, multi-station tracking, and continuous health monitoring. Its high reliability and self-diagnostics reduce unplanned maintenance, maximizing aircraft availability and keeping crews mission-ready with minimal turnaround time.
• Risk mitigation and enhanced safety: TACAN+ uses layered redundancy to preserve navigation accuracy and situational awareness even in adverse conditions or partial system faults. Its fault-tolerant design and automatic recovery functions protect mission integrity, reduce pilot workload, and enhance flight safety in demanding environments.

Regulatory compliance

The TACAN+ is built to comply with rigorous military and aerospace standards. It is qualified to meet MIL-STD-810G for environmental stress, MIL-STD-461E for electromagnetic compatibility, and MIL-STD-704 for aircraft power systems. It also aligns with NATO STANAG 5034 for tactical airborne navigation interoperability and uses DO-160F certified vibration and shock protocols. In short, TACAN+ is engineered to meet the demanding qualification standards of modern military air platforms.

Fleet compatibility

TACAN+ is designed for fixed-wing and rotary military platforms across multiple manufacturers - including Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Northrop Grumman, Sikorsky and Airbus Defence & Space - and supports both new builds and retrofits.

The system’s modular architecture allows compatibility with legacy wiring and flight-deck interfaces, so rewiring is minimal. Installation is supported via Supplemental Type Certificates (STCs) and Approved Model Lists (AMLs), ensuring legal and operational compliance. 

Whether you’re upgrading a tactical transport, rotary gunship, or fighter support aircraft, TACAN+ offers plug-in capability with minimal aircraft downtime and maximum mission readiness.

TACAN+ solutions

The TACAN+ provides multiple display configurations optimized for mission flexibility and cockpit integration. Its ID-2502 display delivers critical range and station data through a compact ½-3 ATI form factor, ideal for space-constrained cockpits.

Optional F3849 and F6555 control units offer streamlined pilot interfaces, maintaining full operational capability. Each configuration supports standard military avionics wiring, ensuring rapid installation and seamless integration across rotary and fixed-wing tactical platforms.

Key capabilities

1. Multi-station tracking

Acron’s TACAN+ features advanced multi-station tracking designed for tactical superiority and mission-critical navigation. The system simultaneously monitors up to four ground stations for range and two for bearing, enabling aircrews to maintain continuous situational awareness across complex operational theaters.

Its rapid signal acquisition and fault-tolerant design ensure uninterrupted navigation even under electronic interference or partial system failures. TACAN+ supports air-to-air tracking modes, allowing precise distance and bearing measurements between multiple aircraft during formation flying, aerial refueling, or coordinated tactical maneuvers.

The system’s real-time processing delivers high-fidelity data to cockpit displays, reducing pilot workload and enhancing decision-making in fast-paced missions. Its compatibility with legacy avionics and modular architecture allows seamless integration into rotary and fixed-wing platforms without extensive rewiring or downtime.

By combining redundancy, rapid acquisition, and multi-source tracking, TACAN+ provides aircrews with a reliable, precise, and resilient navigation solution, ensuring mission effectiveness and operational dominance in demanding military environments.

2. Optimized air-to-air ranging performance

TACAN+ uniquely features two automatically enabled A-A transmit-receive modes providing seamless and enhanced tactical capability and multiple mission capability. If no A-A bearing signal is detected, TACAN+ enters a high signal dynamics 20-meter mode.

In this mode, the TACAN+ receiver is configured to accommodate the strongest received A-A signal and still ensures adequate reception of other weaker signal participating aircraft. This mode enables multiple TACAN+ equipped aircraft to track a “lead” aircraft across a wide range of flying scenarios, down to a minimum closest follower distance of 20 meters.

Upon detecting an A-A bearing signal, TACAN+ automatically exits the high signal dynamics 20-meter mode and enters the beacon tracking mode. In the beacon tracking mode, the receiver is configured for optimal reception and tracking of the beacon signal source.

3. Military-grade reliability

TACAN+ is engineered for uncompromising military-grade reliability, ensuring mission-critical navigation under the most demanding operational conditions. Built to withstand extreme environments, it meets MIL-STD-810G for temperature, vibration, shock, and humidity, MIL-STD-461E for electromagnetic compatibility, and MIL-STD-704 for aircraft power system compliance.

Its ruggedized architecture features dual-channel redundancy, fault detection, and automatic recovery, maintaining navigation accuracy even in the event of component failure or degraded signal environments. TACAN+ is designed to operate seamlessly across both fixed-wing and rotary platforms, providing uninterrupted situational awareness during high-tempo tactical operations.

Its compact, lightweight construction minimizes installation impact while ensuring structural and operational integrity. Rapid signal acquisition, multi-station tracking, and air-to-air ranging are delivered with consistent performance, reducing pilot workload and maximizing mission readiness.

TACAN+ reliability translates directly into operational confidence, allowing aircrews to execute complex missions with precision, safety, and uninterrupted navigational support, even in contested or austere environments.

4. Flexible controller and indicators  

Acron’s TACAN+ offers flexible controller and indicator configurations engineered to maximize cockpit efficiency, situational awareness, and mission adaptability across tactical airframes. The system’s primary display, the ID-2502, delivers critical range, bearing, and station status in a compact ½-3 ATI form factor, ideal for space-constrained cockpits without sacrificing visibility or readability.

Optional control units, including the F3849 and F6555, provide streamlined interfaces that allow pilots to monitor and adjust TACAN+ functions rapidly, maintaining operational tempo during high-stress missions. Each controller supports standard military avionics interfaces, enabling plug-and-play integration with existing wiring harnesses and avionics suites, reducing installation time and aircraft downtime.

The modular architecture allows for reconfiguration based on platform type, mission requirements, or pilot preference, ensuring consistent performance whether in fixed-wing fighters, tactical transports, or rotary gunships. Redundant system pathways and fault monitoring maintain continuous operational capability, even in degraded environments. 

By combining intuitive control, configurable display options, and robust integration, TACAN+ controllers and indicators enhance mission effectiveness, reduce pilot workload, and ensure aircrew confidence during complex tactical operations.