RNAV equipped aircraft require what to fly direct routes?

For RNAV equipped aircraft to effectively fly direct routes, radar monitoring is often required. This monitoring enhances safety by providing air traffic controllers with the ability to track the aircraft's position on their screens, ensuring separation from other aircraft and facilitating efficient routing through controlled airspace.

While RNAV technology allows for precise navigation, adding radar monitoring contributes to real-time oversight of the flight's trajectory and altitude, which is crucial, especially in complex airspace environments. Radar monitoring helps in quick decision-making should any need for course alterations arise, enhancing overall operational safety.

In contrast, options like visual monitoring or no monitoring do not provide the same level of situational awareness for ATC, which is why they are not as suitable for RNAV operations. Manual navigation relies on traditional navigation methods and does not utilize the advanced capabilities of RNAV systems, thus limiting the benefits that RNAV offers for flying direct routes.