GPS / eLoran News

By Mike M. Ahlers, 2/8/2010

In a series of small ceremonies, the U.S. Coast Guard on Monday afternoon will shut down Loran-C, a navigation and timing system that has guided mariners and aviators since World War II.

The death blow came last May when President Obama called the system obsolete, saying it is no longer needed in an age in which Global Positioning System devices are nearly ubiquitous in cars, planes and boats.

Killing Loran-C will save the government $190 million over five years, Obama said. But supporters of Loran -- including the man known as "the father of GPS" -- say the nation's increasing reliance on GPS paradoxically has increased the importance of maintaining Loran as a backup.

Supporters also argue that the mere existence of Loran makes the GPS satellite system a less attractive target for cyber-thugs, terrorists or future military adversaries.

GPS systems today are used not only for navigation, but also to provide precise timing for ATM machines, cell phone towers, water plants and other enterprises, and positioning information for precision-guided weapons for the military. GPS disruptions can be costly to business, dangerous for travelers, and debilitating to the military.

Supporters of Loran -- short for long range navigation system -- say the system is a near-perfect backup because it provides similar information to GPS, but has dissimilar infrastructure.

Inside GNSS: January 20, 2010

The Global Positioning System is vulnerable to threats such as jamming and anti-satellite weapons and the United States should reduce its dependence on the system while developing alternatives for precise positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT), the U.S. Air Force's top military leader said Wednesday (January 20).

Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz made the comments during his opening keynote address, "The United States as an Aerospace Nation: Challenges and Opportunities," at the Tuft University Institute for Foreign Policy Analysis (IFPA) Fletcher Conference on National Security Strategy and Policy. The 2010 conference's theme is "Air, Space, and Cyberspace Power in the 21 st Century ."

December 4, 2009 - from GPS World

The Radio Technical Commission for Maritime Services on December 2 sent the following letter to Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano and the head of the U.S. Coast Guard in support of the Loran service.

The letter strongly supports completion and operation of the North American Enhanced Loran (eLoran) system, as well as continuation of the Loran‐C signal in the interim; Secretary Napolitano is weighing termination of both programs. The letter asserts that It can not be accurately certified that termination of the operation of the Loran‐C signal will not adversely impact the safety of maritime navigation - counter to opinions recently issued by the U.S. Coast Guard Commandant. Finally, the letter affirms that the Loran‐C infrastructure is needed to complete the eLoran system to serve as a backup to the U.S. Global Positioning System (GPS).