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| GAARDIAN | Research and Radionavigation |
Prodded by Congress, the federal government is reexamining its decision to abandon eLoran, a network of ground stations capable of supplying essential timing and positioning data to power, phone, and other critical networks if something happed to GPS.eLORAN technologies, enhanced loran, GPS jamming, global navigation systems —
The new effort, which sources tell Inside GNSS is being supported by the National Coordination Office (NCO) for Space-Based Positioning, Navigation, and Timing (PNT), was spurred by bi-partisan pressure from Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-California) and Rep. John Garamendi (D-California), the chairman and ranking minority member, respectively, of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee’s Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation.
The two elected officials sent letters to the departments of defense, transportation, and homeland Security — the three agencies are responsible for publishing the Federal Radionavigation Plan — asking why no progress had been made on securing a backup for GPS. :::
The two congressmen noted that National Security Presidential Directive 39 (NSPD-39) issued in 2004 directed DoT and DHS to work together to “develop, acquire, operate, and maintain backup position, navigation, and timing capabilities that can support critical transportation, homeland security, and other critical civil and commercial infrastructure applications within the United States. . . .”
eLoran Service Provision
eLoran services are provided by a Core eLoran Service Provider and various Application Service Providers:- Core eLoran Service Provider – delivering a highly precise version of the core signal originally described in the US Coast Guard Specification of the Transmitted Loran-C Signal; and
- Application Service Providers – (e.g. aviation, maritime, etc …) delivering application-specific data (e.g. differential Loran messages or early skywave warnings) that may be communicated using the eLoran data channel.
| Accuracy | Availability | Integrity | Continuity |
| 0.004 – 0.01 nautical mile (8 – 20 meters) | 0.999 – 0.9999 | 0.999999 (1 x 10-7) | 0.999 – 0.9999 over 150 seconds |
1. Accuracy to meet maritime harbor entrance and approach.
2. Availability, integrity and continuity to meet aviation non-precision approach in the U.S.
GPS.gov: Termination of LORAN-C
LORAN-C was a ground-based navigation system operated by the U.S. Coast Guard. In May 2009, President Obama declared the system obsolete and announced plans to terminate it.UK rolls out solar storm defence eLoran system | Daily Mail Online
View announcement...
Congress debated whether to retain and upgrade the LORAN-C infrastructure to become eLORAN, a national backup to GPS. Debates occurred during the development of two bills related to the Coast Guard. In October 2009, Congress enacted an appropriations measure allowing LORAN-C termination.
In February 2014, the House transportation committee reopened the topic during a hearing on navigation aids (learn more) and the markup of the 2014 Coast Guard authorization bill.
The world is so dependent on GPS, that a powerful solar storm could rapidly cripple banks, send ships floundering on rocks and create chaos on the roads.Now, in an attempt to prepare for the threat, the UK government has rolled out a 'GPS back up', dubbed eLoran.Seven different stations are now working to provide additional position, navigation and timing information to ships.
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