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Originally Posted by camaraderie
Seabreeze...last time i checked radio and tv were commercial enterprises and stations either make $$ or shut down. Nothing run by the government ever shuts down! Exactly how is Loran a backup system when 99% of vessels have no working loran. There's probably more boats out there with sextants!
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Snailboaters aren't the only users of Loran. I'm a contractor with the FAA and know that the enhanced Loran system is considered the most likely candidate to serve as a navigation back up should there be a loss of GPS signal. GPS signals are easily jammed and China has taken a big step towards the militarization of space, successfully demonstrating a anti-satellite missle. The more reliant our economy becomes on satellite navigation, the bigger target the system becomes. Since DOD/DHS/DOT/NASA/Etc all support moving away from our reliance on 1940's radar technology for our air traffic control system to a GPS/Datalink surveillence system, they are looking for a cost effective back up nav source should someone exploit GPS's weaknesses.
Loran signals are harder to jam and ground based stations in the US would be less succeptable to attack. Also the system is very cheap compared to Radar. Both the GPS and Loran systems only work with cooperating targets (ie the target has to be equipped), so there will always be some radar coverage funded by DOD. Still the E-Loran technology offers a great back up to the Next Generation Air Transportation systems ADS-B surveillence concept. My guess is the system will not be scrapped, but the funding may shift from DHS/CG to DOT/FAA.
When the government gets around to finally making these decsions, we boaters might see benefits in the form of cool new dual source Loran/GPS nav systems for boaters.