The U.S. Navy has received the final unit of a Raytheon Technologies-built navigation and precision approach and landing system that guides military aircraft onto naval carriers and amphibious assault ships.

The valedictory delivery of the Joint Precision Approach and Landing Systems comes less than two years after the Navy declared initial operational capability for the platform to help F-35C units land on aircraft carriers in all weather conditions and mission environments, Naval Air Systems Command said Thursday.

“This is a significant milestone for the JPALS team, and highlights the incredible efforts of hundreds of our teammates over the past decade who developed and now have fully delivered these critical systems that our Warfighters and International Partners need,” said Capt. Kevin Watkins, program manager of Naval Air Traffic Management Systems Program Office.

Raytheon received a four-year, $234.6M contract in May 2019 to begin the low-rate initial production of the GPS-based aircraft landing system.

JPALS is installed on all U.S. Navy aircraft carriers and amphibious assault ships and is used to support the F-35 aircraft fleet of the British and Italian navies.

In February, the Japanese navy ordered JPALS for its JS Izumo aircraft carrier.

Heidi Shyu, undersecretary of defense for research and engineering, said the Department of Defense is set to kick off the first round of experiments in 2023 as part of the Rapid Defense Experimentation Reserve, an initiative that seeks to address capability gaps and speed up the delivery of emerging technologies to warfighters, Breaking Defense reported Thursday.

The department “last year spent a lot of time planning out the details of the exercise,” Shyu, a 2023 Wash100 winner, said at a conference on Wednesday. 

“And this year, we finally got the money. We’re going to be off and running, literally demonstrating these prototypes in a contested environment. So it…can’t just work in a lab. It’s got to work in a real environment. And that’s exactly what we’re focusing on,” she added.

The Pentagon’s budget request for fiscal year 2024 includes $687 million for RDER, which Shyu introduced as an experimentation campaign in 2021. She noted that her office has carried out three sprints with a focus on joint command and control and resilient communications.

Shyu will serve as one of the keynote speakers at the Potomac Officers Club’s 9th Annual Defense Research and Development Summit. Click here to register for the in-person event on March 23 to learn more about DOD’s critical technologies, R&D priorities, mission needs and global defense concerns.

The Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration is soliciting comments on the development and implementation of a long-term planning strategy to support current and future spectrum requirements of the public and private sectors.

NTIA said Wednesday the National Spectrum Strategy would address the needs of spectrum-dependent services and technologies, including broadband services, satellite communications, medical devices, small cities and manufacturing applications.

“Starting today, we are seeking input on how we can make the most efficient use of this critical resource, with the goal of identifying new spectrum bands for potential repurposing that will spur competition and innovation for years to come,” announced Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo.

The framework would focus on three goals: developing a spectrum pipeline to ensure U.S. leadership in spectrum-driven technologies, implementing a long-term strategic spectrum planning process and expanding the overall spectrum capacity or usability through technology.

Responses are due April 17.