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As disrupting U.S. soldiers’ access to accurate and trusted positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT) information continues to proliferate globally, the U.S. Army is leading the way in delivering the latest Military Code (M-code) and Assured PNT technologies. Three Army organizations within the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics and Technology (ASA(ALT)) partnered with the Army Futures Command’s Assured Positioning, Navigation and Timing/Space Cross-Functional Team (CFT) (now known as the All-Domain Sensing (ADS) CFT) to deliver PNT capability at scale. Guided by the priorities in the National Defense Authorization Act for M-code, Assured PNT and Alternative Navigation, this close partnership increased the speed of acquisition delivering critical APNT capabilities that ensure soldiers’ access to trusted PNT (Assured PNT) and increase lethality in multi-domain operations.
Project Manager (PM) PNT (under Program Executive Office (PEO) Intelligence, Electronic Warfare and Sensors), PM Aviation Mission Systems Architecture (AMSA) (under PEO Aviation), PM Combat Ammunition Systems (CAS) (under Joint PEO Armaments and Ammunition), and the ADS CFT worked in close alignment to bring soldiers a new means of accessing PNT by way of M-code GPS receivers. These organizations created efficiencies by combining experimentation and test events, leveraging technologies, coordinating strategies, and sharing test data. The power of these coordination efforts resulted in the delivery of approximately 27,000 M-code-capable receivers in the last fiscal year with over 2,500 ground Assured PNT systems fielded, 7,000 precision guidance kits produced, and 46 M-code aviation navigation systems installed in Blackhawk helicopters in 2024. The U.S. Army is the first service to field M-code technology across the ground, munitions and aviation domains.
“This partnership was critical to the Army’s transition from legacy GPS to Assured PNT,” said Mike Trzeciak, project manager, PM PNT. “Not only did our partnership facilitate the fielding of key capabilities to soldiers, it also enabled the development of the next generation of technologies like software-defined radios, vision-aided and alternative navigation to diversify, secure and provide trustworthy PNT.”
Unlike traditional PNT sources such as civilian GPS that is accessible to the public, M-code is exclusively designed with critical protections against adversarial denial and deception attempts that only the military can use. To provide APNT and M-code technology to Army soldiers in the field as quickly as possible, the Army applied a two-tiered approach: 1. Updating legacy systems and 2. Incorporating new modular and upgradeable APNT technology informed by capability requirements, soldier feedback, experimentation, and integration across the Army enterprise.
With an eye on accelerating next-generation capability, the ADS CFT began conducting analysis and generating roadmaps for the Army’s Assured PNT enterprise soon after its inception in 2017. Leveraging an accelerated requirements definition process, the CFT released two directed requirements for mounted and dismounted PNT that began the material development process.
“The incredibly consistent commitment among the Army’s most senior leaders has enabled this entire community to stay focused on delivering this capability to soldiers,” said Mike Monteleone, director of the ADS CFT. “I am very encouraged by the teamwork, resilience and overall grit this team-of-teams continues to exhibit.”
From a legacy perspective, PM CAS is working to upgrade its Precision Guidance Kit (PGK) M1156 and Excalibur munitions already in production and sustainment to improve their ability in GPS-contested environments. These precision-guided munitions improve projectile accuracy of conventional artillery munitions, decreasing delivery errors along with the number of projectiles needed to execute fires missions. In one PGK M1156 variant, the M1156E5, PM CAS incorporated an anti-jam capability that enhances operational ability in areas where GPS is degraded. PM CAS will field this new version to the Army next year.
According to Paul Manz, former chief technology officer for JPEO AA, “Our combined efforts to proliferate M-code-capable systems to the Army is just one example of how strong Army acquisition partnerships can rapidly meet Army requirements. Proactive collaborative teaming, with support from our government science and technology experts as well as our industry partners, enables us to better overcome challenges to address the needs of our soldiers while leveraging our collective investments to maximize cost efficiencies on behalf of the U.S. taxpayer.”
On the aviation front, PM AMSA took a unique approach with upgrading its legacy Embedded GPS Inertial Navigation Systems (EGIs)—self-contained navigation systems that provide positioning, velocity and timing data to military aircraft, drones and additional defense systems in challenging environments—removing SAASM cards from existing EGI boxes and integrating M-code GPS receivers into them. PM AMSA accommodates over a dozen unique aviation platforms with only three variants of the new Enhanced Aviation Global Air Traffic Management Localizer Performance with Vertical Guidance EGI Military code (EAGLE-M), allowing PM AMSA to accelerate the EGIs for simultaneous testing and integration across all platforms. Maintaining three variations of the aviation navigator saved both years of time and tens of millions of dollars had the organization developed a new aviation EGI.
To update its legacy Defense Advanced GPS Receiver (DAGR) systems and Ground Based-GPS Receiver Application Modules (GB-GRAMs) that provide critical PNT information for ground-based military operations, PM PNT deployed rapid and robust software updates. This new Resiliency Software Assurance Measure (RSAM) update to the DAGR and GB-GRAM improved these systems’ survivability in GPS challenged environments. PM PNT later leveraged these RSAM updates by pairing them with highly capable anti-jam antennas, creating the Mounted Assured Positioning, Navigation and Timing System (MAPS) Generation (GEN) I capability fielded to combat brigades supporting U.S. Army Europe (USAREUR) as well as U.S. Pacific Command.
“One of the Army’s largest challenges with GPS is the sheer volume of fielded receivers,” said Mike Trzeciak, project manager, PM PNT. “The Army has over 300,000 legacy GPS receivers in combat, mission command, communications, munitions, intelligence, electronic warfare, maritime and aviation systems that will require an extended effort to update to M-code and APNT. It was imperative that we simultaneously updated these legacy systems while developing M-code and Assured PNT capabilities.”
In terms of introducing new technology, PM PNT rapidly developed the MAPS GEN II and the Dismounted Assured Positioning, Navigation and Timing System (DAPS) GEN I, and later, DAPS GEN II—systems that provide soldiers with critical and reliable PNT information and enable mission success in environments where GPS is degraded or unavailable. DAPS GEN I served as an early M-code capability fielded to several infantry brigade combat teams in support of USAREUR in 2022, while MAPS GEN II and DAPS GEN II both leverage additional M-code and as well as additional PNT sensors to improve their resilience. Both systems are now in full-rate production and will replace their GEN I legacy systems.
To drive modernization and enhance the Army’s precision fires capability, PM CAS introduced the M1156A1 PGK with M-code capabilities, achieving successful Type Classification last year and full materiel release in 2025. The M1156A1 dramatically increases the accuracy of high-explosive projectiles, transforming them into near-precision munitions that perform effectively in all-weather conditions and complex terrain. According to Col. Leon L. Rogers II, former project manager, PM CAS, “The integration of an M-code-capable GPS receiver not only enhances resilience against emerging threats but also reduces overall costs by addressing obsolescence challenges; however, this is just the beginning. As the battlefield evolves, so must our capabilities. Our family of coordinate-seeking munitions is being hardened against tomorrow’s threats, and we are now pioneering smart munitions designed to defeat targets even in GPS-denied environments.”
PM AMSA’s new technology efforts include supplementing the EAGLE-M with the Multi-Platform Anti-jam GPS Navigation Antenna (MAGNA)—an antenna that can receive GPS signals even in the event of jamming attempts to interrupt the signal—allowing enhanced resiliency in contested airspace. Additionally, PM AMSA is adapting techniques for automatically determining aircraft position with sensors already on the aircraft. Reusing these sensor feeds allows the air crew to maintain focus on supporting the ground force commander.
“Army Aviation fielded the first M-code receivers to air platforms, which are an essential component of any aircraft supporting ground force commanders,” said James Bamburg, project manager at PM AMSA. “We could not have accomplished this huge milestone without our symbiotic relationship with U.S. Special Operations Command, U.S. Space Force and our PEO Aviation platform PMs. One team, one fight!”
Col. Burr Miller, former project manager at AMSA shares that sentiment. “It really takes everyone pulling the sled together,” he said. “Regardless of whether we’re working with teammates from the Army or any other branch of the U.S. military – we’re all trying to get across the goal line in getting new technology to our soldiers, so sharing lessons learned and other information with each other in relation to our M-code efforts has been critical to our joint success.”
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