Avionics
Report could give loran new life as GPS backup
Loran advocates believe they are on a roll.

Loran advocates believe they are on a roll. A number of events that transpired so far this year, coupled with a government report on loran due soon, have boosted their confidence that this could be the year when their system finally gains its long-due recognition.

The FAA has never been overly enthusiastic about loran, citing its sometimes erratic IFR performance, its lack of failure warnings and its poor accuracy compared with GPS, which the agency predicted would become the nation’s “sole means” of navigation, rendering all other navaids obsolete. In 1994 the agency announced that loran would be shut down in 2000.