INS / IRS
 

Could someone explain the main diff between these???

An INS (Inertial NAVIGATION system) is the 'off the shelf' nav unit [ie the whole system is incorporated as one Nav Unit such as LTN-72 {Stable Paltform, Gyros, AND NAV computers]. The INS is generally a collection of boxes that combine to create a stand alone unit - generally used up until the mid '80s.


IRS is the Inertial REFERENCE System. The IRS is the 'Heart of a complex Nav set of systems that provised a particular data type [REFERENCE] to the aircraft's systems. Navigation calculations are done by other pieces of kit.
Nav or Reference calculation tasks are often performed by other systems such as an FMS, which use the IRS for Attitude and acceleration inputs, but use other pieces of kit to process the data and/or display and use it.

Loosely, an IRS is a single box, an INS includes a dedicated CDU/Display.


Sound reasonable???