President, Congress Abandon National Infrastructure
Sam Wormley
http://www.gpsworld.com/gnss-system/news/president-congress-abandon-national-infrastructure-9123?print=1
President, Congress Abandon National Infrastructure
http://www.gpsworld.com/gnss-system/news/president-congress-abandon-national-infrastructure-9123?print=1
November 10, 2009
By: Alan Cameron
Teams in the National Football League have backups. The United States government,
military, financial network, wireless communication, and transportation infrastructures do
not. Having ridden to election in part on the back of the previous administration’s lack
of readiness for and response to natural disaster, the Obama administration and Democratic
Congress seem willing, if not eager, to commit the same egregious errors of their own.
The following story constitutes an editorial opinion, based on current facts, by GPS World
editor Alan Cameron. Response mechanism included.
In 2001, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Volpe Report clearly indicated the
vulnerability of GPS to interference, both intentional and unintentional, as well as
disruption due to natural atmospheric factors. It also delineated the consequent
vulnerability of critical national infrastructure of several kinds, which depend upon GPS
for highly precise timing, as well as position and navigation. Since that date, not a
single administration finger, red or blue, has lifted in proactive response. Minimal
hand-waving has occurred. Now the executive fist, seeking to wring some drop of financial
savings from some obscure program somewhere, has clamped on Loran, the sole practical
back-up to GPS, and throttled the life out of it.
This in blithe ignorance of the government’s own commissioned Independent Assessment Team,
which found that “the cost of deploying eLoran technology [an updated improvement on
Loran] would be about $100 million, which is about the same cost as dismantling the
current Loran infrastructure.” The philosophy, if Congress and government are even aware
of the thought underpinnings of their actions, seems to be “You’ve got to spend money to
save some,” bearing an eerie resemblance to a previous era’s operational dictum, “In order
to save the village, we had to destroy it.” It further portends ill for the overall
national infrastructure that the President has claimed he intends to restore, strengthen,
and solidify.
On October 28, President Barack Obama signed into law a bill that effectively terminates
the struggle to mount back-up system for GPS: Loran-C and eLoran, a system that could
prevent national and industrial infrastructure breakdown in the event of various probable
disruptions, interference, or intentional jamming.
The President signed the Department of Homeland Defense (DHS) appropriations bill that
allows termination of Loran-C in Jan 2010. The U.S. House of Representatives also passed a
revised version of its Coast Guard authorization bill, replacing the mandate to convert
Loran-C into eLoran with a call for its termination, in line with the DHS appropriations
bill. Further details are available at the PNT website.
The Coast Guard Commandant and DHS are expected to sign off almost immediately that
Loran-C can be terminated. Once they sign it, Loran signals could go off the air as soon
as January 4, 2010.
In his first budget, President Obama stated that Loran-C was obsolete, and that obsolete
systems would be eliminated. The administration and Democrat-led Congress continue to
assert, in the face of expert testimony and evidence to the contrary, that Loran-C is the
poster child of obsolete systems, and must be killed. The politicians appear immune to any
notion that GPS is vulnerable to a range of disruptions, and that the national timing,
communications, and financial infrastructures that depend on GPS are likewise open both
to intentional attack and to natural interference.
The attached PDF reproduces in its entirety a letter to Secretary of Homeland Defense
Janet Napolitano from Senators Joseph Lieberman (chair, Senate Committee on Homeland
Security and Governmental Affairs) and Senator Susan Collins, ranking member of same
committee. The following paragraphs briefly excerpt key portions of the letter.
“It is vital that you have the input of critical infrastructure users of GPS before
deciding on this certification [that Loran-C is not needed as a back-up to GPS], and the
Department’s survey of these users has not been completed.”
“In January 2009, an Independent Assessment Team, commissioned jointly by DHA and DoT,
released a report that unanimously concluded that eLoran should serve as the national
back-up for GPS and that the Loran-C infrastructure should be maintained until full eLoran
deployment.”
[Editor’s note: The IAT report was actually completed in 2007, but withheld from public
release by the U.S. government for two years, until various filings forced it into the open.]
“Aside from signal interference an limitations related to depletion of the GPS
constellation, there is also the danger of intentional actions to destroy,or jam the
signal of, GPS satellites.”
“DHS officials committed during their confirmation hearings that the Department would
provide [its survey of all 18 critical infrastructure sectors to determine whether a
backup to GPS is needed] by July 30, 2009. Three months after its due date, that survey
has not been completed. Any decision to certify the decommissioning of Loran
infrastructure should be delayed until this report is provided to and reviewed by Congress.”
If you agree with any of the opinions presented here or in the attached PDF letter from
U.S. Senators, feel free to print it out and forward it, above your own signature, to your
respective Congresspeople, to DHS Secretary Napolitano, and to the White House.
Secretary Janet Napolitano
Department of Homeland Security
U.S. Department of Homeland Security
Washington, DC 20528
Comment Line: 202-282-8495
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500
Comments: 202-456-1111
An e-mail form is also available.
Should you disagree with any of the above, feel free to e-mail GPS World’s editor.
Correspondence may be considered for publishing as a letter to the editor for an upcoming
issue of the magazine, but will not be printed without your express written permission.
For additional perspective on this issue, see related articles below. Also, watch for Don
Jewell's November Defense PNT editorial, coming tomorrow.
Related Links :
Loran Letter to Secretary Napolitano
Administration Ax Falls on PNT Backup, Loran-C
Innovation: GPS + LORAN-C
LORAN Gets a Witness
The Perils of LORAN: an Endangered Life
Coast Guard Directed to Maintain and Upgrade Loran
Loran Study Finally Unleashed: Says Keep It, Best Option
Independent Assessment Team (IAT) Summary of Initial Findings on eLoran
Senate Committees Support eLoran
Europe's General Lighthouse Authorities Praise LORAN Decision
LORAN Saved, but Money Questions Remain
LORAN Rescued
Expert Advice - eLoran, Superhero Sidekick!
Expert Advice - Why We Need eLoran
Loran on Trial
LORAN Lives to Another Day
Expert Advice - The Case for eLORAN
Wayne R.
wrote (with clarity & insight):
>�In January 2009, an Independent Assessment Team, commissioned jointly by DHA and DoT,
>released a report that unanimously concluded that eLoran should serve as the national
>back-up for GPS and that the Loran-C infrastructure should be maintained until full eLoran
>deployment.�
So, if we "save" LORAN, who's still equipped to use it? Maybe a few
remote/isolated telecom companies still have MRFRs but it'd be
surprising. Do aircraft still have any of that stuff? Ships?
Would future PNDs be able to use eLORAN seamlessly?
HIPAR
> SEE website story for linkshttp://www.gpsworld.com/gnss-system/news/president-congress-abandon-n...
>
> President, Congress Abandon National Infrastructurehttp://www.gpsworld.com/gnss-system/news/president-congress-abandon-n...
Supposedly, despite the technical arguments for its retention
that have been presented, Commandant US Coast Guard
has already declared LORAN is not essential to navigation.
I'm a sailor and know lots of other boaters. Nobody I know
is equipped for LORAN. I have an old LORAN receiver that
still works, but I don't keep it aboard. Despite comments
from paranoid naysayers about GPS reliability/availability,
I don't worry about the Chinese anti-satellite operations or
jamming. The satellites have never let me down.
I note 15 feet GPS accuracy on the water. LORAN
provides about 0.1 miles. Arguably, eLORAN works
better, but due to a stagnate LORAN-C user base that
system is unfortunately 'still born' .
It's not a true backup to GPS. It doesn't provide worldwide
24/7 coverage.
Proponents tend to be legacy users of the fishing fleet
and a few private pilots who haven't changed over to
GPS.
--- CHAS
Happy Trails
>SEE website story for links
>http://www.gpsworld.com/gnss-system/news/president-congress-abandon-national-infrastructure-9123?print=1
>
>President, Congress Abandon National Infrastructure
>http://www.gpsworld.com/gnss-system/news/president-congress-abandon-national-infrastructure-9123?print=1
>November 10, 2009
>By: Alan Cameron
Are the Loran transmitting stations still being used to transmit DGPS
corrections to those beacon receivers?
Will they be in future?
HIPAR
> On Tue, 10 Nov 2009 22:35:27 GMT, Sam Wormley <sworml...@mchsi.com>
> wrote:
>
> >SEE website story for links
>
> >President, Congress Abandon National Infrastructure
> >November 10, 2009
> >By: Alan Cameron
>
> Are the Loran transmitting stations still being used to transmit DGPS
> corrections to those beacon receivers?
>
> Will they be in future?
DGPS operates its own network of reference stations and transmitters.
After the LORAN shutdown during January, the government will
liquidate
all associated assets. An environmental impact study for system wide
termination is posted on the Coast Guard Navigation Center web site.
--- CHAS