FULLERTON, Calif., - RTX in Arlington, Va., has won a $206.2 million cost-plus-incentive-fee contract from the Naval Air Systems Command in Patuxent River, Md., to integrate secure M-Code Global Positioning System capability into the Navy’s AN/USN-3(V)1 Joint Precision Approach and Landing System (JPALS), a key technology for precision aircraft landings at sea.
JPALS is the Navy’s next-generation precision approach and landing system designed to guide aircraft safely to ships at sea under demanding operational conditions. The system uses a differential Global Positioning System (GPS) architecture that applies real-time local corrections from shipboard reference stations and transmits them via an encrypted, anti-jam datalink to approaching aircraft.
This enables highly accurate relative positioning between the aircraft and a moving ship, compensating for deck motion during final approach and allowing precise glidepath guidance in low visibility, at night, and in adverse weather. When integrated with aircraft flight control systems, JPALS supports highly automated or coupled approaches while reducing pilot workload.
M-Code GNSS
The integration of M-Code GPS is central to this upgrade because it significantly improves the system’s resilience in contested electromagnetic environments. M-Code is the U.S. military’s modernized, encrypted GPS signal designed to resist jamming and spoofing, with higher signal power and improved interference rejection compared to legacy military GPS signals. For carrier aviation, these enhancements help ensure reliable positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT) data in the presence of electronic warfare threats.
Related: Army eyes positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT) vetronics that resist electronic warfare (EW) jamming
Incorporating M-Code into JPALS requires substantial systems engineering and software modification. Engineers must update GPS receiver interfaces and signal processing chains, adapt navigation and guidance algorithms, and revalidate system performance for accuracy, integrity, and availability.
Because JPALS is a safety-critical system, the work involves extensive modeling, simulation, and flight testing to meet stringent certification requirements. The delivery of engineering development models will support integration and verification efforts before broader fielding.
The contract calls for the design, engineering, integration, testing, and verification and validation of M-Code GPS capability within JPALS, as well as the procurement of four engineering development models for the Navy. Work will be performed in Fullerton, Calif., and Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and is expected to be completed by April 2030. Fiscal 2026 research, development, test, and evaluation funds in the amount of $11.5 million will be obligated at the time of award.
