Checking with the US Coast Guard site, they mention support for the short term. However, it appears that a new tower was added to the North American chain last year for a new total of 29 towers.
John:
It seems fishy to me that they would spend more money on new towers. But what doesn't seem fishy to me is the fact that the reliability (if not the coverage) of LORAN is so good. And I think the EMF pulse you mentioned can be a factor... Another thought, if Iran starts making more noise, would the GPS signals be scrambled, or curtailed? 10 years ago, who would have dreamed of TFRs? Who knows in the future if the US will start doing a T(GPS)O ...Temporary GPS Outage?
LORAN (if I am correct) is only here in the US and it certainly seems like it is still a viable technology and should be supported as a backup to GPS.
If the feds continue to support VOR DME (talk about old technology) why shouldn't LORAN stay in place? It's a great system and can allow aviators a backup if Uncle Sam needs to do a TGPSO for strategic or wartime measures...
