US Army’s MAPS Gen II to reach full-rate production decision later this year

Collins Aerospace, an RTX business, expects its Mounted Assured Positioning, Navigation and Timing System (MAPS) Gen II to reach full-rate production by the end of the year. The system has recently completed an initial operational test & evaluation with the US Army and is currently in low-rate initial production.

MAPS Gen II is the company’s next-generation mounted assured PNT solution and was built to provide operational resilience and maintain the integrity of positioning and timing in challenged GPS-contested environments.

In order to protect against evolving electronic and GPS threats, it combines a Military-Code (M-code) GPS receiver, resilient sensor fusion algorithms, PNT distribution anti-jam antennas and supports multiple tactical vehicle platforms.

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It is also equipped with a patented Collins Aerospace's NavHub-100 navigation system, a Modernized Signal Tracking (MST) to enhance GPS integrity and provide reliability and the Multi-Sensor Antenna System (MSAS-100).

'MAPS Gen II is designed to not only provide the critical capabilities the warfighter needs today but is also adaptable to outpace the threat of tomorrow,' Philippe Limondin, the company’s VP and general manager for Resilient Navigation Solutions, told Shephard during the SOF Week 2024 exhibition, in Tampa, Florida.

According to him, it provides the 'highest levels of assured PNT' and 'is paramount to the success of critical, special operations missions – enabling the most important goal of bringing our warfighters home safe'.

Interoperable with the Collins Aerospace PRC-162 manpack radio, the system features a modular open-system architecture to facilitate the addition of new sensors and capabilities over its life cycle.

MAPS Gen II has also been designed for flexible integration with a focus on reducing vehicle system changes by employing a two Line-Replaceable-Unit (LRU) system that easily replaces the existing navigation system.

'We are responding to an ever-changing operational environment and partnering with our customers to provide additional capabilities that respond to, and more importantly outpace, the threat,' Limondin noted.

In April, the company was awarded an undisclosed-value contract to support the US Marine Corps (USMC) with the Mounted Assured Resilient Navigation (MARNAV) requirements.

'Meanwhile, Collins Aerospace is focused on mission readiness, ramping production capabilities to meet growing warfighter demand, and fielding this next-generation capability across all domains,' Limondin pointed out.