The DME and airborne equipment together form a navigation system that provides the aircraft with the slope distance information from the ground station. The ground station of DME can be used in conjunction with the Instrument Landing System (ILS) to provide the aircraft with slope distance information during landing, or it can be used in conjunction with DVOR to provide the aircraft with distance information on the course.

The DVOR system transmits two signals, namely the reference phase signal and the variable phase signal, which are received and calculated the magnetic bearing by the airborne receiver relative to the ground VOR, indicating the flight direction for the aircraft and guiding the aircraft to fly along the scheduled course.