The U.S. Naval Air Systems Command has awarded Raytheon a $254.5 million contract for the design, manufacture and testing of the Joint Precision Approach and Landing System.
JPALS is an all-weather landing system based on differential GPS for land-based and sea-based aircraft.
Under the contract, Raytheon will continue development of eight existing engineering development models (EDMs); and deliver two additional EDMs to support fleet early operational capability requirements for F-35B/C and MQ-25 test and initial operational requirements aboard nuclear aircraft carriers and amphibious assault ships.
JPALS works with the GPS satellite navigation system to provide accurate and high-integrity guidance for fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft. The system features anti-jam protection to ensure mission continuity in hostile environments. JPALS is a differential GPS that is designed to provide an adverse weather precision approach and landing capability.