inertial guidance

American  

noun

Navigation.

1. a guidance system for an aerospace vehicle, in which self-contained devices determine the vehicle's course on the basis of the directions and magnitudes of the accelerations it undergoes in flight.

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inertial guidance British  

noun

1. a method of controlling the flight path of a missile by instruments contained within it. Velocities or distances covered, computed from the acceleration measured by these instruments, are compared with stored data and used to control the speed and direction of the missile Compare celestial guidance terrestrial guidance

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Etymology

Origin of inertial guidance

First recorded in 1950–55

Example Sentences

The bus then uses small on-board rocket motors and a computerised inertial guidance system to manoeuvre and release the warheads on different trajectories.

From Reuters

The rockets feature an inertial guidance package aided by GPS and have the ability to maneuver in flight.

From Washington Times

I’m a fan of inertia, and before you criticize inertia, remember that it was an inertial guidance system that guided our astronauts to the moon.

From Washington Post

The ship launched Hellfires, for instance, can utilize all-weather millimeter wave radar, inertial guidance or semi-active laser targeting to fire upon enemy ships, helicopters, fixed-wing assets or drones attacking the LCS.

From Fox News

Both insects use the same method: they combine vision with an inertial guidance system.

From Economist