Plain English Meaning

These are the parts of an older area navigation system that uses a VOR station and its distance-measuring equipment to figure out where the aircraft is, and then shows the pilot how to fly to a chosen point in space — not just to the station.

Full Definition

The set of physical and electronic elements that make up a VOR/DME-based area navigation system. These typically include the aircraft's VOR receiver (which provides bearing from a ground station), the DME receiver (which provides slant-range distance from that station), an RNAV computer that combines those two inputs to calculate the aircraft's position relative to a -defined , and a () that displays guidance to or from that waypoint rather than to or from the itself.