inertial guidance
noun
: guidance (as of an aircraft or spacecraft) by means of self-contained automatically controlling devices that respond to inertial forces
called also inertial navigation
Examples of inertial guidance in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
By contrast, Russia’s own inertial guidance backups tend to be inaccurate.
—
David Axe, Forbes.com, 29 Mar. 2025
The German Taurus is a 1.5-ton cruise missile with a turbofan engine propelling it to high subsonic speeds over a distance of around 300 miles under GPS and inertial guidance.
—David Axe, Forbes, 1 Mar. 2025
Notably, some drones, aircraft, ships, submarines, and spacecraft still make good use of inertial navigation systems (also known as inertial guidance systems) with increasingly cheap and accurate sensors that can calculate location based on movement measurements.
—IEEE Spectrum, 1 May 2020
An Aster 30 missile accelerates to up to 4.5 times the speed of sound in under four seconds, closing towards its target using inertial guidance and radioed-in course adjustments from the battery.
—Sébastien Roblin, Popular Mechanics, 23 June 2023
For a good measure, StormBreaker also uses jam-resistant GPS and inertial guidance, and can receive course-corrections from other aircraft or ground forces via its two-way Link 16 datalink.
—Sébastien Roblin, Popular Mechanics, 9 Apr. 2023
In the 1960s, GM tested and manufactured the inertial guidance and navigation systems for the entire Apollo Moon program, including Apollo 11 and the first human landing in 1969.
—Jamie L. Lareau, Detroit Free Press, 26 May 2021
For example, focused beams of sound could confuse the inertial guidance unit used to control a drone.
—IEEE Spectrum, 10 Nov. 2022
The rocket’s inertial guidance system would be aligned using a Loran installation on the shore after which point its own self-aligning stable platform keeps the azimuth and vertical directions stable.
—Amy Shira Teitel, Discover Magazine, 11 Aug. 2017
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David Axe, Forbes.com, 29 Mar. 2025
The German Taurus is a 1.5-ton cruise missile with a turbofan engine propelling it to high subsonic speeds over a distance of around 300 miles under GPS and inertial guidance.
—David Axe, Forbes, 1 Mar. 2025
Notably, some drones, aircraft, ships, submarines, and spacecraft still make good use of inertial navigation systems (also known as inertial guidance systems) with increasingly cheap and accurate sensors that can calculate location based on movement measurements.
—IEEE Spectrum, 1 May 2020
An Aster 30 missile accelerates to up to 4.5 times the speed of sound in under four seconds, closing towards its target using inertial guidance and radioed-in course adjustments from the battery.
—Sébastien Roblin, Popular Mechanics, 23 June 2023
For a good measure, StormBreaker also uses jam-resistant GPS and inertial guidance, and can receive course-corrections from other aircraft or ground forces via its two-way Link 16 datalink.
—Sébastien Roblin, Popular Mechanics, 9 Apr. 2023
In the 1960s, GM tested and manufactured the inertial guidance and navigation systems for the entire Apollo Moon program, including Apollo 11 and the first human landing in 1969.
—Jamie L. Lareau, Detroit Free Press, 26 May 2021
For example, focused beams of sound could confuse the inertial guidance unit used to control a drone.
—IEEE Spectrum, 10 Nov. 2022
The rocket’s inertial guidance system would be aligned using a Loran installation on the shore after which point its own self-aligning stable platform keeps the azimuth and vertical directions stable.
—Amy Shira Teitel, Discover Magazine, 11 Aug. 2017
Cite this Entry
“Inertial guidance.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/inertial%20guidance. Accessed 20 May. 2025.
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