All the methods to handle the inertial navigation system (INS) alignment were sub-optimal in the past. In this paper, particle filtering (PF) as an optimal method is used for solving the problem of INS alignment. A sub-optimal two-step filtering algorithm is presented to improve the real-time performance of PF. The approach combines particle filtering with Kalman filtering (KF). Simulation results illustrate the superior performance of these approaches when compared with extended Kalman filtering (EKF). All this methods to handle the inertial navigation system (INS) alignment were sub-optimal in the past. In this paper, particle filtering (PF) as an optimal method is used for solving the problem of INS alignment. A sub-optimal two- The filtering results illustrate the superior performance of these approaches when compared with extended Kalman filtering (EKF).