As global aviation and airport industries continue to pursue higher safety, operational efficiency, and resilience against interference, high-precision Inertial Navigation Systems (INS/IRS) are rapidly evolving—from a “secondary backup” to a critical redundancy and performance-enhancing technology.

Today, INS not only provides aircraft with navigation independent of GNSS, but is also extending into airport ground operations and intelligent service scenarios, collectively enabling a more resilient and efficient future for air transportation.

Core Applications of High-Precision INS in Aviation and Airport Operations

1. Aircraft Navigation — The Last Line of Safety

High-precision IRS (FOG/RLG-based) is a fundamental component in modern commercial aircraft, military platforms, and large UAVs. It delivers:

• Real-time position, velocity, attitude, and heading
• High-accuracy guidance during ground taxiing

Even under complete GNSS denial, high-precision INS can maintain usable accuracy for tens of minutes to several hours, ensuring safe approach and landing.

2. Intelligent Runway & Taxiway Monitoring (Emerging Application)

Specialized inspection vehicles equipped with high-precision INS/IMU systems can reconstruct pavement conditions through high-frequency vibration and attitude measurements, supporting:

• International Roughness Index (IRI) analysis
• Detection of localized anomalies and early-stage structural degradation

These capabilities enable predictive maintenance and have already been tested at multiple international airports.

3. Precision Dispatching & Anti-Collision for Airport Special Vehicles

For critical airport vehicles—such as de-icing trucks, fire-rescue vehicles, and apron shuttle buses—high-precision INS is commonly used as an anti-interference backup to GNSS, ensuring:

• Centimeter-level positioning even in snowstorms, heavy fog, or electromagnetic interference
• Reduced risk of ground conflicts
• Higher operational efficiency under extreme weather conditions

4. Seamless Indoor–Outdoor Navigation in Airport Terminals (Passenger Applications)

MEMS IMU–based sensor fusion—combining inertial data with geomagnetic signals and other sources—has been widely deployed for:

• Terminal indoor navigation
• Fast location of gates, shops, and check-in counters

When satellite signals are blocked, inertial sensing becomes the key to maintaining continuous positioning, significantly improving the passenger experience.

Looking Ahead: From Redundancy to Empowerment

As polar routes become routine, drone logistics take off, low-altitude economies expand, and airports move toward all-weather resilient operations, high-precision inertial navigation is undergoing a quiet transformation:

• From the aircraft’s last line of defense,
• To the airport’s anti-interference foundation,
• To a core enabler of continuous, trusted positioning across the entire aviation ecosystem.

The future is already here.

INS is no longer just a backup—
it is the technology that allows both sky and ground operations to remain stable and confident, even in the absence of satellites.