Inertial guidance system

An inertial guidance system consists of an Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) combined with a set of guidance algorithms and control mechanisms, allowing the path of a vehicle to be controlled according to the position determined by the inertial navigation system. These systems are also referred to as an inertial platform.

An inertial navigation system (INS) provides the position, velocity, orientation, and angular velocity of a vehicle by measuring the linear and angular accelerations applied to the system in an inertial reference frame. It is widely used because it refers to no real-world item beyond itself. It is therefore immune to jamming and deception. (See the principle of relativity and Mach's principle for some background in the physics involved.)