What is "naval tactical data system"

n. a shipboard system for collecting and displaying tactical data

Naval Tactical Data System, commonly known as NTDS, refers to a computerized information processing system developed by the United States Navy in the 1950s and first deployed in the early 1960s for use in combat ships. It took reports from multiple sensors on different ships and collated it to produce a single unified map of the battlespace. This information could then be relayed back to the ships and to the weapons operators.