US military uses 8-inch floppy disks to coordinate nuclear force operations. <p>US military still uses floppy disks </p> <p>The Defense Department uses outdated technology to coordinate operational functions of the nation&#039;s nuclear forces.</p> Maybe they use the '80s flick "War Games" as a training film, too. The U.S. Defense Department is still using — after several decades — 8-inch floppy disks in a computer system that coordinates the operational functions of the nation's nuclear forces, a jaw-dropping new report reveals. The Defense Department's 1970s-era IBM Series/1 Computer and long-outdated floppy disks handle functions related to intercontinental ballistic missiles, nuclear bombers and tanker support aircraft, according to the new Government Accountability Office report. The department's outdated "Strategic Automated Command and Control System" is one of the 10 oldest information technology investments or systems detailed in the sobering GAO report, which calls for a number of federal agencies "to address aging legacy systems." The report shows that creaky IT systems are being used to handle important functions related to the nation's taxpayers, federal prisoners and military veterans, as well as to the U.S. nuclear umbrella. Lezh | Getty Images; Getty Images "Federal legacy IT systems are becoming increasingly obsolete: Many use outdated software languages and hardware parts that are unsupported," the report found. "Agencies reported using several systems that have components that are, in some cases, at least 50 years old." http://www.cnbc.com/2016/05/25/us-military-uses-8-inch-floppy-disks-to-coordinate-nuclear-force-operations.html
If it is a closed system, not attached to anything else, does it matter? The cost to adapt the hardware alone would be prohibitive, not even considering re-writing the code. At the rate user software changes, it would nearly impossible to keep up, and keep the system functional. Now, some of the systems that publicly facing, that is a different story. The Apollo moon launches used memory measured in kilobytes.
Hi, Report: Amiga at NASA (Article written by Bob Castro - March 1999 "The Amiga was chosen for those applications because its reliable hardware and low-overhead software means less down-time for those crucial jobs. But most Amiga owners would be suprised to learn just how much their machines' reliability is trusted to carry out one of the toughest jobs in the world - or outside of it. For more than a dozen years, Amiga computers have been hard at work at Cape Canaveral's Hanger AE supporting the launches of every American spacecraft including the space shuttle." See http://obligement.free.fr/articles_traduction/amiganasa_en.php A dated article but interesting. Regards, Mick D.
