USA to discontinue LORAN-C

The US Coastguard has given notice that the North American LORAN-C chain will be permanently discontinued effective 2000Z 08 Feb 2010. This decision flows from the US President's policy to eliminate unnecessary federal programmes. The Commandant of the US Coast Guard had certified LORAN-C was not needed for maritime navigation and the Secretary of Dept of Homeland Security provided certification it was not needed as a backup for GPS. In the wake of the US announcement, Canada has given notice of discontinuance of the LORAN-C chains it operates in tandem with the US. A precise date for closure of the Canadian chains has not been given, but it will be on or before 1 October 2010.

LORAN-C is a terrestrial low frequency radio navigation system which is considerably more robust than GPS. Until the US decision to de-commission, enhanced LORAN (eLORAN) was widely seen as the natural backup facility for any satellite based navigation system. In 2007 the UK awarded a 15-year contract to provide an eLORAN service in the UK and Western Europe. The first eLORAN transmitter is situated at Anthorn transmitting station Cumbria, UK. eLORAN is capable of an accuracy of ± 8 metres, which compares favourably with GPS.