US Coast Guard Axes Loran-C

At 2000 UTC on 8 Feb, 2010, LORAN (LOng RAnge Navigation) is dead in the United States. It follows such other systems as Omega, DECCA, and Hyperfix into post-GPS oblivion.

This happened rather quickly, being published in the Federal Register only 10 days ago. It is not much of a surprise, though.

From USCG:

*** Special Notice Regarding LORAN Closure: ***

In accordance with the DHS Appropriations Act, the U.S. Coast Guard will terminate the transmission of all U.S. LORAN-C signals effective 2000Z 08 Feb 2010. At that time, the U.S. LORAN-C signal will be unusable and permanently discontinued. This termination does not affect U.S. participation in the Russian American or Canadian LORAN-C chains. U.S. participation in these chains will continue temporarily in accordance with international agreements. You may read more and download pertinent documents via our LORAN-C page.

More in the April Utility World.