Pentagon awards M-Code GPS deal to BAE Systems

The Pentagon’s Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) has awarded BAE Systems a USD325 million deal to provide the US armed forces with Military Code (M-Code)-enabled GPS modules, according to a company statement.

Under the terms of the deal, company officials will provide M-Code-compatible Military GPS User Equipment (MGUE) Increment 1 Common GPS Modules to US and allied combat platforms over the next 10 years, the statement said. The modules “will provide reliable and secure positioning, navigation, and timing [PNT] data with anti-jamming and anti-spoofing capabilities” for US weapon systems, primarily for ground-based precision-guided munitions, it added.

The development effort will be based on technologies aboard BAE Systems’ Miniature Precision Lightweight GPS Receiver Engine – M-Code (MPETM-M) and its NavStrikeTM-M GPS receiver for precision-guided munition, according to the statement. “This contract will ensure the availability of M-Code module inventory to build advanced, next-generation GPS receivers,” Greg Wild, BAE Systems’ director of Navigation and Sensor Systems, said in the statement. “Additional receivers from the company’s military GPS family are in development for transition to M-Code,” the statement added.

An artist’s impression of BAE Systems’ Military GPS User Equipment (MGUE) Increment 1 Common GPS Module (CGM) for precision weaponry. (BAE Systems )

A majority of GPS capabilities for assured PNT aboard US armed forces’ weapon systems are based on Selective Availability Anti-Spoofing Module (SAASM)-enabled GPS PNT. At its core, SAASM capabilities consist of an enhanced security architecture for GPS signal transmission, which is designed to encrypt and decipher signals via ‘over-the-air’ rekeying of signal receivers.