Are the United States closing down Loran stations?
Loran-C was initially an American Department of Defence system covering the Pacific and Atlantic areas for 20 years. In 1974 the system was opened up to civil use. Because the U.S.A. has functional control of G.P.S., Congress decided they had no need to support two independent overseas marine systems. As a result, all overseas stations were closed down or handed over to host states to operate in 1993. North American Continental Loran-C systems are in situ and are being maintained. Continental USA coverage has been expanded for land and aviation use. On 1.1.95 a combined Russian/American chain was opened to cover the Bering Sea. There are proposals to close American Loran-C stations in year 2000. Congress is examining this proposal. There is considerable consumer resistance to the proposal due to the amount of receivers in use and the necessity to change to GPS receivers. A recent Report of the President’s Commission on Critical Infrastructure Protection voiced concerns on relying solel
