Abstract: Different from the common missile, the loitering missile can cruise over the target to obtain the target location information and transmit it to the command center, which is used for battle-field situation analysis and optimum assignment of firepower. Limited by the load capacity and cost requirements, the target location ability of the loitering missile is not comparable to that of large unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). In order to promote the target location accuracy of loitering missile, the error sources were analyzed from the principle and process of the target location of loitering missile. Under typical working condition, the influence degree of primary factors such as longitude and latitude errors of global positioning system, course errors of inertial navigation system (INS), angle measurement errors and ranging errors of rangefinder on target location accuracy were studied, which could be used as the design basis to promote the target location accuracy. According to the influence of longitude and latitude errors of global positioning system on target location accuracy, the outfield test was carried out to verify the above analysis conclusions. The results show that as the longitude and latitude accuracy of the global positioning system varies from 5 m to 1 m, the circular probable error (CEP) of target location reduces by about 31.5%, which is consistent with the theoretical analysis.