Definition
A ground-based navigation facility that combines a VOR (VHF Omnidirectional Range) and a TACAN (Tactical Air Navigation) station at the same site, sharing a common location and identifier. The VOR component provides bearing (azimuth) information to civilian aircraft, while the TACAN component provides distance information that civilian aircraft receive as DME (Distance Measuring Equipment). Military aircraft use the TACAN component for both bearing and distance.
Plain English
A single ground station that gives both civilian and military aircraft the navigation signals they need. Civilian pilots get direction from the VOR part and distance from the TACAN's distance signal. Military pilots get both direction and distance from the TACAN part.
Context Anchor
Seen on IFR charts, approach procedures, and route descriptions where a pilot may tune, identify, and navigate using a named ground station.
Derivation
A blend of VOR and TACAN — the two systems housed together at one site. TACAN itself comes from 'Tactical Air Navigation,' a military system developed in the 1950s. Combining them at shared sites avoided duplicating ground stations for civilian and military users.
Why Pilots Care
When a pilot sees DME readings from a VORTAC, the distance is actually coming from the TACAN equipment co-located with the VOR. It functions for civilian use exactly like a VOR/DME, but the underlying hardware is shared with the military system. Knowing this helps when reading charts and understanding facility outages — the VOR portion and the TACAN/DME portion can fail independently.
Intuition Check
Do not assume VORTAC means a separate cockpit unit. It is the ground facility; the aircraft must still have the right onboard equipment to use its signals.
Example Sentence 1
We tracked inbound on the 270 radial of the VORTAC and used the DME to identify the final approach fix.
Example Sentence 2
During the cross-country flight, DME from the VORTAC provided accurate distance to the next fix.