UK deploys WW II navigation tech to back up GPS

The UK has deployed World War II navigation  technology to back up GPS, which can fail due to intentional jamming or suffer disruption from solar storms, The Register reported. 

A network of long-wave transmitters had been set up in parts of England and Scotland to support the technology.

As of Friday, the system, called eLoran, a complement to Global Navigation Satellite Systems, had been switched on along the east coast at seven ports, which was expected cover all of the British Isles by 2020.

The system has been put into place after intense lobbying by authorities that run the UK's lighthouses and navigational-aids infrastructure. They had demonstrated questionable issues with GPS jammers being used against ships in 2010.

According to the General Lighthouse Authorities (GLA) of the UK and Ireland the tech had in fact been installed at the Port of Dover in January 2013.

GLA research and radio navigation manager Martin Bransby told the BBC that all vessels that sailed today were massively dependent on GPS, which was their primary means of navigation and massive number of instruments also relied  on it.

The technology is based on long-wave radio signals and is completely independent to GPS, which means, in the event of a solar storm, trade routes would remain open, Mail Online reported.

The signal provided by the technology is one million times more powerful than the ones  from satellites and full operational capability covering all major UK ports would be expected by 2019.

The deployment is meant to ensure ships could navigate safely in the event of GPS failure in one of the busiest shipping regions in the world, which would have 200,000 vessels crossing it every year by 2020.

Scientists had warned earlier this year that solar 'super-storms' posed a 'catastrophic' and 'long-lasting' threat to earth

Currently ships carrying 95 per cent of UK trade were hugely reliant on GPS to help them navigate the seas.

According to the estimates of the European Commission an €800 billion segment of the European economy was currently dependent on global satellite navigation systems.

GPS signals are vulnerable to interference and both deliberate and accidental jamming.

For instance, GPS jammers are readily available online for as little as £30 and are can cause complete outages across all models of receiver currently on the market.

Similarly solar storms could disrupt the functioning of GPS systems and scientists had earlier this year warned that solar 'super-storms' posed a 'catastrophic' and 'long-lasting' threat to life on earth.