Definition
An aircraft equipped with TACAN (Tactical Air Navigation) receivers but without civilian VOR or DME equipment. TACAN is a military navigation system that provides both bearing and distance information from a ground station. A TACAN-only aircraft cannot receive standard VOR signals, so when operating in civilian airspace it must navigate using TACAN stations or the TACAN component of combined VORTAC facilities.
Plain English
An aircraft, usually military, that uses only the military navigation system and cannot pick up the civilian version that most general aviation aircraft rely on. It still works fine off shared stations that broadcast both signals.
Context Anchor
Seen in ATC routing, military aircraft operations, and discussions of which ground navigation facilities an aircraft can use.
Derivation
TACAN comes from 'TActical Air Navigation,' a system developed by the U.S. military in the 1950s. Knowing it is a military system helps explain why some aircraft are equipped only with it.
Why Pilots Care
These aircraft have restricted access to many civilian airways and procedures and may require special routing or radar vectors from ATC.
Grounding Statement
The key point is equipment capability: the aircraft can use TACAN, but not VOR.
Intuition Check
“TACAN-only” does not mean the aircraft can only fly one kind of mission or only use one route. It means its radio navigation equipment is limited to TACAN for this type of ground-based navigation, not VOR.
Example Sentence 1
The controller routed the TACAN-only aircraft via a VORTAC since it could not navigate using the VOR-only station along the direct route.
Example Sentence 2
Controllers filed a TACAN-only aircraft on military routes to ensure continuous navigation signal coverage.