Image: Co-pilot AI
What’s new: Expanded information about a recent tri-nation meeting led by South Korea.
Why it’s important: To be really effective, navigation systems must have international standards.
What else to know:
- We posted about this meeting last month, but the below article includes input from S. Korean government officials.
- The author of the below is President of the RNT Foundation.
Republic of Korea (ROK) Leading Global Collaboration on eLoran
Representatives from the United Kingdom and France traveled to the other side of the globe for a meeting in Seoul, Republic of Korea (ROK), in November. The topic was establishing global standards for eLoran, including creating an international body to develop and maintain those standards.
The ROK’s Loran-C system was installed by U.S. Forces in 1979. The ROK took over the Loran-C system from U.S. Forces in 1989 and has continually maintained the transmitters, recently upgrading them to the eLoran system. Initial Operational Capability (IOC) for eLoran was achieved in 2023.
The U.K. and France cooperated with other nations in a Loran-C network until the end of 2015. The system was dis-established in deference to the developing Galileo GNSS, which would become operational at the end of 2016. While other nations decommissioned their stations, the U.K. maintained its single transmitter for use as a timing source. The U.K. is in the process of establishing its own sovereign eLoran network of six transmitters and has allocated a first funding tranche of $93 million. French President Emmanuel Macron announced In July that his nation would join with the U.K. in providing eLoran.
As the first nation allied with the West to establish an eLoran network, the ROK has taken the initiative to begin international discussions to ensure sovereign eLoran systems are standardized to support global transportation and trade. We reached out to the ROK’s Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, the department responsible for the nation’s eLoran system, to learn more about the country’s motivations and plans.
Q: The ROK has operated Loran for decades. What was the motivation behind the recent upgrade from Loran-C to eLoran?
A: Since 2010, ROK has intermittently experienced GPS jamming in the West Sea. In such cases, vessels become unable to receive GPS position information through their navigation equipment. Therefore, to provide resilient and robust positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) services even under GPS jamming conditions, we developed the eLoran system and built the necessary infrastructure. A pilot service is currently being conducted in the West Sea.
Q: Is the eLoran standards meeting with the U.K. and France the first of its kind?
A: Yes. We held the meeting to share each country’s policy direction and technology development status related to eLoran, and to discuss future mutual development plans.
Q: Do the ROK, U.K. and France have a shared vision for the future of eLoran?
A: In order to respond to GPS jamming incidents occurring worldwide, we shared information on eLoran technologies and policies, and discussed potential future cooperation. Through this process, we believe a consensus was built on the importance of mutual collaboration.
Q: The ROK is on the opposite side of the globe from the U.K. and France and the countries’ eLoran systems won’t interact. Why is it important to establish shared standards?
A: Due to the recent increase in radio jamming incidents, IMO, ICAO and ITU issued a joint statement in March recommending measures to strengthen resilient and robust PNT systems for the safety of vessels, aircraft and timing systems.
With the goal of advancing eLoran as a resilient and robust alternative navigation system, we discussed technical standards such as signal specifications, data formats and receiver performance.
Even if the three countries’ systems are not directly interconnected at the moment, we believe that if more countries adopt eLoran standards in the future, gradual interconnection across regions such as Europe and Asia will become possible.
Q: Will the three countries be building on the existing eLoran standards set by SAE, or proposing something new?
A: We are reviewing areas where existing technical standards developed by international organizations—such as SAE, IMO, IALA, RTCM and ITU—may need to be supplemented or expanded. Through this process, we plan to continue discussions on standardization to promote the activation of eLoran services and to facilitate a smooth user environment.
Q: Does the Far East Radio Navigation Service organization still exist and meet? Will there be eLoran standards meetings that include China and Russia?
A: ROK, China and Russia operate the Far East Radio Navigation Service [FERNS] to promote cooperation and the development of maritime safety and radio navigation aids, and this cooperation continues.
