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United States Department of Transportation United States Department of Transportation

Navigation Programs

Navigation Programs


Navigation Programs directs the implementation of new capabilities, sustainment of current systems, provision of a resilient navigation infrastructure, and rationalization of systems recommended to right-size the existing national airspace navigation infrastructure.

Our Mission

  • Maintain safe and cost-effective navigation capabilities to meet the operational needs of the National Airspace System (NAS), today and in the future.
  • Guide the sustainment plans of conventional and Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) navigation systems.
  • Implement innovative capabilities such as Light Emitting Diode (LED), Advanced Receiver Autonomous Integrity Monitoring (ARAIM) and Dual-Frequency Multi-constellation Capability (DFMC).
  • Enable Positioning, Navigation, and Timing (PNT) services needed to support the transition of the NAS to Performance Based Navigation (PBN) as the preferred means of navigation by sustaining and expanding the use of the Global Positioning System (GPS) and the Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS), as well as building a resilient PBN backup with the Distance Measuring Equipment (DME), Very High Frequency Omni-Directional Range (VOR), and Instrument Landing System (ILS).
  • Ensure resiliency in all phases of flight for all aviation users by sustaining legacy Ground-Based NavAids and Visual Guidance Lighting Systems for the near future while rationalizing systems to right size the existing infrastructure and avoid unnecessary costs.