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World War II Tech eLoran Deployed As GPS Backup In the UK
hypnosec (2231454) writes General Lighthouse Authorities (GLA) has announced that they have deployed a World War II technology called Long Range Navigation system, which they have named eLoran, in seven ports across Britain to serve as a backup for the existing Global Positioning System (GPS). GLA notes that modern ships have a lot of equipment that rely on Global Navigation Satellite Systems for functioning and in case of failure the consequences will be disastrous. For this reason technology that doesn't rely on the GPS was required as a backup. eLoran is a ground-based system rather than satellite-based and is designed to be used in the event of a GPS failure. The system was quite successful and post-WWII era, the system was updated and crowned a new name Loran-C. The navigation system was adopted by mariners across the globe and was used until GPS was deployed. Loran has now been renamed as eLoran because of the upgrades to the technology as well as the infrastructure. The more accurate system generates longwave radio signal, which is 1 million times more powerful than those from positioning satellites, are capable of reaching inside buildings, underground and underwater. According to GLA, eLoran and GPS are quite different from one another and hence there is no common mode of failure.
Funny how two countries can take the exact same situation and arrive at completely opposite decisions.
I remember loran from my early ham radio days (50's and 60's). It made a hell of a noise on HF. It probably would not bother anyone any more as the hf frequencies are not utilized as they once were. Sounds like an excellent idea as the gps system is very vulnerable.
In the event of a war with a major world power, GPS will be destroyed, because most of those powers have proven they can shoot satellites. If you depend too much on GPS you will be in for a rude shock when it goes away.
Not thinking about backup only means we will learn about it the hard way - and it will not be pretty.
Exactly. Every major world power has plans to destroy the American GPS constellation in the event of a shooting war. If you don't plan for that, it will be that much rougher when it happens.
Wars with minor or regional powers that can't destroy GPS, that's one thing. Wars with major powers like China or Russia who can, that's something else.
in case of failure the consequences will be disastrous
Yeah, because no shipping ever occurred before LORAN or GPS. What a joke! It's not like people found their way around the globe for centuries using the sun, moon and stars.
Actually, we HAVEN'T been shipping super sized cargo ships without at least LORAN. The need for near continuous, weather independent localization pretty much coincided with the development of radio. We COULD develop different back up systems - for example inertial navigation systems have progressed from refrigerator sized boxes with a price tag suitable only for military ships to a shoebox sized box priced reasonably for a multi million dollar freighter. Subsequent improvement could probably decrease the size and cost but I doubt it would get to GPS sized dimensions - if only for the fact that the frequency requires longer antennas.
And remember, a-Loran, b-Loran, c-Loran and e-Loran require multiple, expensive ground stations. We are all waiting to see what i-Loran will require, probably just some pixie dust and a persistent connection to i-cloud, but Apple hasn't weighed in with their plans just yet.
Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
Please understand that the technology to kill satelites has been around for a long time. Several military contractors for the US Defense Department have developed kinetic kill vehicles. They are in orbit as we speak. Their purpose is to destroy satelites by ramming into them at high velocity. They are like an anvil with a guidance system and a simple propulsion system. I know that Boeing had these back in the early 1990s. I'm sure there are hundreds or thousands of them up there by now with their targets locked in. If the US has them, you know the Russians and possibly the Chinese have them. If there is a major war between any of the major powers on Earth, the satelites will be one of the first casualties.
Also, of course, the Chinese proved they could destroy satelites from the earth by their launch of a missile at one of their own several years ago. (Thanks for the space debris, China.)
I saw a documentary on a US Navy Aircraft Carrier, it had a relevant incident. The carrier has GPS, LORAN, inertial navigation, etc. Yet every day a sailor steps outside the bridge with a sextant and takes readings on the horizon and sun. (does another sailor do so at night with the stars?). He then goes inside and using a WW2 manufactured mechanical chronometer calculates the position of the ship. When asked why the Navy still uses such ancient mechanical technology the sailor replied that this ship is a warship and is expected to be where it needs to be regardless of whether the fancy electronics is working or not.
In the UK pilots often receive NOTAMs stating that the military are conducting GPS jamming trials in certain areas. From personal experience and reports from other pilots the jamming is very effective.
For all intensive porpoises your a bunch of rediculous loosers