TERPROM (terrain profile matching) is a military navigation Ground Proximity Warning System (GPWS) employed on aircraft and missiles, which uses stored digital elevation data combined with navigation system and radar altimeter inputs to compute the location of an aircraft or missile above the surface of the
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to Planetary habitability, harbor life. This is enabled by Earth being an ocean world, the only one in the Solar System sustaining liquid surface water. Almost all ...
. It is also used as a warning system to prevent aircraft from flying too close to the ground. The acronym TERPROM has become a trademark in its own right.
TERPROM was initially conceived in 1977 within the
Bristol
Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...
-based Guided Weapons New Projects Office of British Aerospace as a private venture project. The private venture status continued until the mid-1980s. British Aerospace later received a MoD funded contract to advise the
Government
A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state.
In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...
on the development options and applications of tactical cruise missiles.
TERPROM utilises Terrain Referenced Navigation to provide aircraft with a Predictive Ground Collision Avoidance System (PGCAS) as well as Obstruction Warning and Cueing (OWC)
TERPROM is produced by Atlantic Inertial Systems,
Plymouth
Plymouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Devon, South West England. It is located on Devon's south coast between the rivers River Plym, Plym and River Tamar, Tamar, about southwest of Exeter and ...
BAE Systems
BAE Systems plc is a British Multinational corporation, multinational Aerospace industry, aerospace, military technology, military and information security company, based in London. It is the largest manufacturer in Britain as of 2017. It is ...
United Technologies Corporation
United Technologies Corporation (UTC) was an American multinational corporation, multinational list of conglomerates, conglomerate headquartered in Farmington, Connecticut. It researched, developed, and manufactured products in numerous are ...
in 2012 branded as Collins Aerospace. As of 2020, the company merged with Raytheon to become Raytheon Technologies (RTX).
TERPROM has been fitted, and used operationally, on the following platforms:
*
F-16
The General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon is an American single-engine supersonic multirole fighter aircraft originally developed by General Dynamics for the United States Air Force (USAF). Designed as an air superiority day fighter, it e ...
Panavia Tornado
The Panavia Tornado is a family of twin-engine, variable-sweep wing multi-role combat aircraft, jointly developed and manufactured by Italy, the United Kingdom and Germany. There are three primary #Variants, Tornado variants: the Tornado IDS ...
, A-10, Eurofighter Typhoon, BAE Hawk, C-130 and C-17 aircraft
* Storm Shadow cruise missile, although Storm Shadow uses a different form of Terrain Profile Matching navigation and terrain avoidance system, developed by