Navy looks to electronics experts at Northrop Grumman and Honeywell to upgrade shipboard aircraft landing systems

PATUXENT RIVER NAS, Md., 13 Oct. 2013.Air traffic control experts at the Northrop Grumman Corp. Electronic Systems segment in Woodland Hills, Calif., is joining the Honeywell Inc. Aerospace sector in Clearwater, Fla., on a project to upgrade precision landing systems aboard U.S. Navy aircraft carriers and amphibious assault ships.

Officials of the Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) at Patuxent River Naval Air Station, Md., have announced their intention to award five-year contracts to Northrop Grumman and Honeywell to upgrade and improve Navy Precision Approach Landing Systems (PALS) on carriers and big-deck amphibs.

The contracts to Northrop Grumman and Honeywell have yet to be negotiated, and should be awarded in February, Navy officials say. The contracts, which will be basic ordering agreement (BOA), will be for services and materials to fabricate, modify, repair, replace, upgrade, and improve PALS components, assemblies, and associated hardware.

PALS provides precision landing information to air traffic controllers and pilots during final approach while landing aircraft aboard aircraft carriers and amphibious assault ships.

Northrop Grumman and Honeywell are to return the system to a level of serviceability comparable to a new system, and will include previously produced and delivered navigation and communication systems and equipment, to include fault isolation, assembly, disassembly, and refurbishment of parts, components, assemblies, and material for the PALS navigation and communication systems.

Northrop Grumman and Honeywell are the original manufacturers of the navigation, communication, and guidance equipment, and the companies are the only qualified providers of the necessary work, Navy officials say.

JPALS is an all-weather landing system based on real-time differential correction of the GPS signal, augmented with a local area correction message, and transmitted to the user via secure data links.

The onboard receiver compares the current GPS-derived position with the local correction signal to deliver a three-dimensional position that is accurate enough for all-weather approaches via an instrument landing system (ILS)-style display.

For more information contact Northrop Grumman Electronic Systems at www.northropgrumman.com, Honeywell Aerospace online at http://aerospace.honeywell.com, or Naval Air Systems Command at www.navair.navy.mil.