Transfer alignment is the process of initializing and calibrating a

missile In military terminology, a missile is a guided airborne ranged weapon capable of self-propelled flight usually by a jet engine or rocket motor. Missiles are thus also called guided missiles or guided rockets (when a previously unguided rocket i ...

torpedo A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, and with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, su ...

inertial navigation system An inertial navigation system (INS) is a navigation device that uses motion sensors (accelerometers), rotation sensors ( gyroscopes) and a computer to continuously calculate by dead reckoning the position, the orientation, and the velocity (dire ...

using data from the host carrier's

navigation system A navigation system is a computing system that aids in navigation. Navigation systems may be entirely on board the vehicle or vessel that the system is controlling (for example, on the ship's bridge) or located elsewhere, making use of radio or othe ...

. The inertial navigation systems on missiles and torpedoes are limited by weight, volume and cost. Initialization of such systems must be rapid and accurate. Different matching methods, such as velocity matching and position matching, are designed to improve the speed and accuracy of the alignment. Different factors will affect the accuracy of the transfer alignment, such as reference information delay, mounting error, sensor measurement error, lever-arm effect and flexure of the carrier body.

References

{{Reflist Navigational equipment