Goodnight LORAN

Feb.8th, 2010
The U.S. Coast Guard on Monday afternoon will shut down Loran-C (short for long range navigation 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. Shutting it down will save the government $190 million over five years, Obama said. But supporters of Loran say the nation's increasing reliance on GPS has increased the importance of maintaining Loran as a backup. 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. The Department of Homeland Security says it is currently reviewing the nation's critical infrastructure "to determine if a single, domestic system is needed as a GPS backup."
"The continued active operation of Loran-C is not necessary to advance this evaluation," DHS said.