The U.S. Navy has declared the initial operational capability of a Raytheon Technologies-made system designed to guide aircraft landing on naval carriers and amphibious assault ships.
The Joint Precision Approach and Landing System (JPALS) achieved IOC on May 4 and is now ready to facilitate aircraft landings on naval ships, Naval Air Systems Command said May 18th.
“JPALS has reached a historic milestone, which supports our requirement to deliver, operate and maintain a Navy with a focus on our core roles of sea control and power projection,” said Cmdr. Jeff Dugard, who leads the Naval Airspace and Air Traffic Control Standards and Evaluation Agency.
The system's IOC declaration results from a long series of developmental work that commenced in 2008 and comes almost a year earlier than scheduled.
JPALS can now help F-35C units land on nuclear aircraft carriers in any weather condition. The system has been used on amphibious assault ships since 2016 under an early operational capability.