The U.S. Navy has accepted delivery of the final Joint Precision Approach and Landing Systems (JPALS) unit, according to a statement released on March 16th. This marks a significant milestone for the JPALS team, who have successfully delivered these critical systems on-time or ahead of schedule over the past decade.
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. The system 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.
Captain Kevin Watkins, Naval Air Traffic Management Systems (PMA-213) program manager, praised the JPALS team for their hard work, saying, “This team overcame many barriers over the past several years, successfully achieving the required outcome to deliver all of the capabilities needed, on time and affordably.”
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.
Japan also recently became the third foreign military sale customer in December, and JPALS is scheduled to be deployed on the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force’s JS Izumo in 2024.
The successful delivery of the final JPALS unit represents another step forward for increased capability at sea and highlights the significant impact of teamwork and dedication in achieving successful outcomes.