ORIENTATION ON THE TERRAIN WHEN PERFORMING A SERVICE AND COMBAT MISSION UNDER THE CONDITIONS OF A MAGNETIC ANOMALY

Abstract

The ability of personnel to navigate the terrain, determine azimuths to a target, landmarks or various characteristic objects, and timely arrival at a given area (line) is an important factor in achieving success in service and combat activities by subunits. However, in areas of magnetic anomalies, the use of magnetic orientation devices is difficult or not possible at all. Several types of magnetic anomalies differ depending on the size: global (mainland) ‒ the Carpathians, mountainous regions of Crimea, regional ‒ Krivoy Rog and Kremenchug and  local ‒ accumulation of equipment, etc.

The disadvantages of using a gyroscopic compass, which is a mechanical device, are the complexity of the design, large size, the need for continuous special maintenance and lack of autonomy.

The article presents some alternative methods of tactful orientation on the terrain with high accuracy.

Firstly, it is the use of signals from modern satellite systems. Based on these signals, software applications, including mobile ones, have been created. As a rule, these are military or «near military» applications. These are Google Earth, Maps.me, CrowdMag, Commander Compass, Topic (Topo), MyGun (UkropSoft), etc. The functionality and capabilities of these programs differ significantly from each other, but most are focused on exploring the area.

Secondly, an improved method of orientation on the terrain of the «solar disk» type is proposed, which is based on the use of the position of the Sun (Moon). The proposed mobile device is lightweight and allows you to determine the true azimuth to the target or the direction of movement with an accuracy of up to 10 in the condition of magnetic anomalies. The use of this device is possible only in sunny weather, however, with average cloudiness (especially in summer), this problem is partially solved with the help of a lens and the formation of a sunspot.