ATC
FAA’s hybrid GPS/loran tests backup capability
As part of its evaluation of loran as a potential backup to GPS, the FAA has contracted Rock-well Collins to build a combined GPS/loran variant of its stan

As part of its evaluation of loran as a potential backup to GPS, the FAA has contracted Rock-well Collins to build a combined GPS/loran variant of its standard multimode navigation and landing receiver. The unit’s primary function will be to provide GPS navigation, with automatic switchover to loran should GPS signals be lost or degraded, and automatic reversion to GPS when normal service resumes. Flight tests are scheduled for late summer.

The concept reflects the concerns about GPS interference and jamming expressed in a report published last September by the DOT’s Volpe Technical Center. While less accurate than GPS, loran is being considered as a backup candidate because of its continental U.S.-wide coverage from ground level to above jet altitudes, its independence from other systems and its resistance, for all practical purposes, to jamming.