Definition
A ground-based navigation facility that combines a VOR (which provides civil aircraft with magnetic bearing information) and a TACAN (a military navigation system that provides both bearing and distance information). Civil aircraft use the VOR portion for bearing and the distance-measuring (DME) portion of the TACAN for slant-range distance, giving pilots both course and distance from the station from a single facility.
Plain English
A combined navigation station on the ground that tells you both which direction you are from it and how far away you are. It serves civilian and military aircraft from the same site.
Context Anchor
Seen on instrument charts and arrival procedures where a route, turn, or crossing point is based on a named navigation station.
Derivation
The name is a blend of VOR and TACAN. VOR stands for VHF Omnidirectional Range — 'omnidirectional' means it transmits usable signals in every direction (360 radials). TACAN comes from 'Tactical Air Navigation,' a military system. Combining them at one site gave both communities a single shared navaid, so the blended name VORTAC stuck.
Why Pilots Care
It supplies reliable navigation signals used for airways, arrivals, and position fixes during instrument flight.
Intuition Check
Do not think of a VORTAC as an arrival route or a fix by itself. It is the ground radio station that a route or fix may be based on.
Example Sentence 1
The STAR routed them over the VORTAC, where they were instructed to cross the 15 DME fix at 8,000 feet.
Example Sentence 2
During the STAR the crew cross-checked their position using the VORTAC radial and DME.