A single, strongly-worded sentence in President Obama’s first budget proposal seems to spell the end of Loran C. Describing it as an “outdated system”, the budget points out that shutting it down this year could save $36 million in 2010, and $190 million over the next five years.

Loran enthusiasts are surprised and disappointed by this development. The system’s future had seemed secure after last year’s budget transferred responsibility for it (and its annual operating budget of $3 5 million and nearly 300 staff) from the U. S. Coast Guard to the National Protection and Programs Directorate. At the time, the move was said to be “in preparation for conversion of LORAN-C operations to Enhanced LORAN (eLORAN).” The 2008 Federal Radionavigation Plan, which was published only a couple of months ago, also referred to Loran C stations being converted to eLORAN. The conversion, it said, would provide “an independent, dissimilar complement to GPS that will allow properly equipped users to retain PNT (positioning, navigation, and timing) service in the event of GPS disruption.” But the reality of the matter is that in the past ten years, Congress has allocated just $160 million to begin the conversion to eLORAN and that it might well take another $400 million to finish the job.

There’s not much doubt that eLORAN would be a better system than LORAN C, providing the same kind of accuracy as we have come to expect of GPS: the question is whether it is worth it—and whether we’ll have the chance to find out.