LORAN to make a comeback? Navigation tech from WWII may be revived

[WMGroomAK]

In a kind of interesting twist to navigation technology, LORAN (longe-range navigation) stations may actually come back online over the next couple of years to serve as back-up to GPS.  The main reason is that GPS signals (which supplanted LORAN completely in 2010 in the US and Canada) are susceptible to interference and jamming due to their low signal strength, where as LORAN operating at higher strength would be a lot harder to jam without a massive installation.  In the US, a recent funding bill for the Dept. of Homeland Security for 2018 that passed the House of Representatives called for the construction of enhanced LORAN stations to complement and backup the existing GPS system and South Korea is planning to have three active eLORAN stations online by 2019.

 

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2017/08/radio-navigation-set-to-make-global-return-as-gps-backup-because-cyber/

Quote

An evolution of World War II technology (LORAN was an acronym for long-range navigation), Loran-C was considered obsolete by many once GPS was widely available. In 2010, after the US Coast Guard declared that it was no longer required, the US and Canada shut down their Loran-C beacons. Between 2010 and 2015, nearly everyone else shut down their radio beacons, too. The trial of an enhanced Loran service called eLoran that was accurate within 20 meters (65 feet) also wrapped up during this time.

 

But now there's increasing concern about over-reliance in the navigational realm on GPS. Since GPS signals from satellites are relatively weak, they are prone to interference, accidental or deliberate. And GPS can be jammed or spoofed—portable equipment can easily drown them out or broadcast fake signals that can make GPS receivers give incorrect position data. The same is true of the Russian-built GLONASS system.

 

Over the past few years, the US Coast Guard has reported multiple episodes of GPS jamming at non-US ports, including an incident reported to the Coast Guard's Navigation Center this June that occurred on the Black Sea. South Korea has claimed on several occasions that North Korea has jammed GPS near the border, interfering with aircraft and fishing fleet navigation. And in the event of a war, it's possible that an adversary could take out GPS satellites with anti-satellite weapons or some sort of cyber-attack on a satellite network.

...

Because it uses low-frequency radio waves (in the 90 to 110 kHz range), it's not likely that you'll see eLoran integrated into your smartphone. While the antenna required for receiving eLoran signals is relatively small (about two inches square), that's a fairly massive amount of real estate for a smartphone to dedicate to a backup navigation system. But that size could be reduced with some investment in antenna miniaturization. And while eLoran only works in two dimensions (it doesn't provide altitude data) and only works regionally (with a range of 800 miles), it has one major advantage over GPS: its powerful low-frequency signals are far less susceptible to jamming or spoofing. The signal from eLoran beacons is 1.3 million times stronger than GPS signals. A 2006 MITRE study found that attempts to jam or spoof eLoran would be highly unlikely to work.

 

"[eLoran] is a deterrent to deliberate jamming or spoofing, since such hostile activities can be rendered ineffective," said Brad Parkinson, the retired US Air Force colonel who managed the original GPS development program, according to Reuters. A report Parkinson contributed to for an Institute for Defense Analyses Independent Assessment Team in 2014 found that "eLoran is the only cost-effective backup for national needs."

 

The administrations of both George W. Bush and Barack Obama pushed for a national eLoran system, but their efforts were never funded by Congress. However, the version of the Department of Homeland Security funding bill for 2018 just passed by the House of Representatives in July includes language calling for DHS to fund the construction and maintenance of a new eLoran system "as a complement to, and as a backup for" the GPS system. And the South Korean government already has pushed forward plans to have three active eLoran beacons by 2019—that's enough to provide accurate fixes for all shipping in the region should North Korea (or anyone else) attempt to block GPS again.

While the cost to build and maintain these stations may be expensive, this is a great idea as there are a lot of issues with relying solely on space based signals for navigation.  If anything, this can help to improve accuracy of navigation systems.  Also helps to point out that just because a tech or tech concept is old, doesn't necessarily mean that it is still without a use...

 

Reuters Article: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-shipping-gps-cyber-idUSKBN1AN0HT?mod=djemCIO_h

[Nicnac]

Interesting! it will be an important method in the future to use "dumb" systems / simple tech just to protect from hacking and the likes. Low tech backups have been lifesavers in many instances.