Raytheon Wins $234 Million U.S. Navy Contract for 23 JPALS Landing Systems

PARIS — Raytheon
won a four-year $234 million contract from the U.S. Navy to outfit all of its
nuclear-powered aircraft carriers and amphibious assault ships with 23 Joint
Precision Approach and Landing Systems (JPALS), the company announced in a release.

JPALS is a
GPS-based precision landing system that guides aircraft to precision landings
in all weather and surface conditions.

“The U.S.
Navy understands how JPALS contributes to their mission success and safety of
its people,” said Matt Gilligan, vice president of Raytheon’s intelligence, information
and services business. “Other military services could also benefit from the
system’s ability to safely land both fixed and rotary-wing aircraft in almost
any low-visibility environment.”

Since 2018,
U.S. Marine Corps F-35B Lightning II fighter pilots have used JPALS to guide
them onto the USS Wasp amphibious assault ship during deployed operations in
what Navy Capt. B. Joseph Hornbuckle III, program manager, Naval Air Traffic
Management Systems Program Office, called “the most difficult conditions on
Earth.”

Earlier this
year, F-35B pilots participated in two demonstrations of a new expeditionary
version of the JPALS system that brings the same precision capability from sea
to shore. The proof-of-concept events showed how the GPS-based system could be
reconfigured into a mobile version to support landings in a traditional airport
setting.

Expeditionary
JPALS fits in five transit cases and could be repackaged for a variety of small
transit vehicles transportable by C-130. Once on the ground, the system can be
fully operational in under 90 minutes.