US Army approves production of vehicle-mounted GPS alternative

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US Army approves production of vehicle-mounted GPS alternative

The U.S. Army approved the full-rate production of a

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vehicle-mounted

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, or PNT, system vital to operating in GPS-denied environments, the service announced Tuesday.

The Mounted Assured, Positioning, Navigation and Timing System, or MAPS, is a key element of the service’s modernization push. The Army established a cross-functional team through Army Futures Command in 2017 to advance capabilities, both mounted and dismounted, that would help the Army operate in environments where the enemy might jam its space-based GPS systems used for navigation.

As those efforts progressed in development, they were transferred to the Program Executive Office Intelligence, Electronic Warfare and Sensors to be managed as programs of record.

“This monumental achievement is the culmination of over six years of hard work and dedication by [Program Manager] PNT and Mounted PNT,” Lt. Col. Damian Dixon, the Army’s Mounted PNT product manager, said in the statement.

The MAPS Generation II capability “provides

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capability through sensor fusion algorithms and non-radio frequency sensors to distribute positioning, navigation, and timing data so mounted soldiers can operate in environments where military GPS is denied or degraded,” the statement notes.

In addition to enabling forces to communicate, move and shoot, the system distributes PNT data “to multiple clients on a single platform, eliminating redundant GPS receivers and antennas,” according to the statement.

The MAPS GEN II system consists of an internally mounted navigation hub where data coming from sensors and receivers are fused together and an anti-jam antenna system mounted to the outside of the vehicle.

To date, the Army has spent roughly $500 million in procurement funding for the mounted PNT program as it previously fielded a first-generation capability to rapidly deliver an initial capability to the battlefield, according to fiscal 2025 service budget documents.

The Army plans to procure 619 MAPS GEN II systems for a total of $130 million in fiscal 2025, according to budget documents. This includes spares, follow-on test and evaluation, logistics support and engineering changes for Armored, Stryker and Infantry Brigade Combat Teams, the documents show.

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