eLoran joint venture

As good as space-based satellite services such as GPS, Glonass and the developing Galileo are, it is now becoming widely recognised that these vital systems are vulnerable to interference and jamming. The two companies between them have a long experience of developing and managing the Loran systems which will form the basis of the new operation.

Known as Taviga, the new company is focused on the provision of assured timing and navigation to secure critical infrastructure systems from cyber and other threats. It is hoped their approach to the provision of a back-up system based on eLoran will address the growing concern that overdependence on satellite systems for positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT) which can make many essential services vulnerable to disruption. Tavigacombines the founding company’s decades of experience specializing in Loran technology and industrial timing applications at national and international levels and its objective is to provide a commercially operated eLoran service.

Taviga will in fact be two companies, Taviga Ltd in the UK and Taviga LLC in the US. They will focus on preserving and establishing eLoran networks in the UK, Europe and the USA using either existing Loran-C or purpose-built eLoran technology. Tavigaanticipates working in partnership with government agencies and other entities that have a vested interest in reducing the vulnerability and improving the resilience of critical national infrastructure that currently depends on Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) sources of PNT.

The European Loran transmitters went off air at the end of 2015 and currently there are no plans to resurrect the system. In the US the Government is now committed to re-establishing the Loran system based on eLoran technology which is a more advanced and accurate version. Being entirely land-based and operating at very low frequencies eLoran is virtually impossible to disrupt unlike satellite based positioning systems where the signal is so weak that it has been likened to viewing and 100 watt bulb from 100 miles away. Whilst satellite systems are best known for their provision of accurate positions, their signals are also used for very accurate timing by many critical infrastructure systems such as power generation, the financial markets and transport.

Taviga’s goal is the long-term operation of an eLoran system on a commercial basis for at least ten years. This length of time provides the necessary service assurance continuity to enable users and equipment providers to invest with confidence in an eLoran-based timing and navigation service that complements their GNSS solutions.

By Dag Pike