U.S. Navy Takes Delivery of Final JPALS Aircraft Carrier Landing System

The U.S. Navy took delivery of the final Joint Precision Approach and Landing Systems (JPALS) unit, produced by Raytheon, on March 16.

JPALS is a ship-relative GPS-based system that provides aircraft carriers and amphibious assault ships with precision approach and landing capability, surveillance, and over-the-air inertial alignment in all weather and mission environments.

JPALS is currently being deployed on all U.S. Navy aircraft carriers and amphibious assault ships, and is on the United Kingdom Royal Navy’s HMS Queen Elizabeth and the Italian Navy’s ITS Cavour. Japan became the third foreign military sale customer in December and is scheduled to be deployed on the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force’s JS Izumo in 2024.

JPALS has been supporting F-35B deployments on U.S. Navy LH-class amphibious assault ships since 2016 and F-35C deployments on U.S. Navy aircraft carriers since 2021. Initial operational capability was reached in May 2021 with full operational capability scheduled for fiscal year 2026.

JPALS utilizes an anti-jam encrypted data link to establish secure and smooth communication between an aircraft and an array of GPS sensors aboard carriers.

The JPALS will be used to support inflight refueling operations for unmanned vehicles, including the Stingray, to extend the range of aircraft.