It is clear that floppy disks are still in use in the operation of intercontinental ballistic missiles and nuclear bombers

ByFrédéric BISSON

Despite several decades since 8-inch floppy disks are generally not used, "the US Department of Defense uses 8-inch floppy disks for computer systems to operate nuclear forces An amazing report named "We have been published.

US military uses 8-inch floppy disks to coordinate nuclear force operations
http://www.cnbc.com/2016/05/25/us-military-uses-8-inch-floppy-disks-to-coordinate-nuclear-force-operations.html


The US Department of Defense has been using computers in the 1970s even as of 2016IBM Series / 1And floppy disks, handling intercontinental ballistic missiles, nuclear bombers and aircraft for tanker supportUS Government Accountability Bureau(GAO) 's report.

The US Department of Defense's outdated "Strategic automatic command and control system"Is one of the oldest IT facilities in the world, and this is the identity of the computer system still using the 8-inch floppy. Regarding this system, GAO, among the numerous existing government agencies, is "old to replace with new onesLegacy systemOne of them. According to the report, the system handles information on nuclear related systems as well as information on prisoners and military veterans imprisoned in taxpayers / federal prisons.

The report says, "Federal government IT systems are becoming more and more outdated, and obsolete software languages ​​and hardware that are no longer supported are used a lot," according to some agencies Some of the constituent elements of the IT system that is in existence are at least 50 years old. "Therefore, it is possible to read remarkable aging in the system within the US government.

Colonel Valeri Henderson of the Ministry says, "The system is still in use, because it still works" in a nutshell, "the US Department of Defense is planning to upgrade the nuclear related system as soon as possible. However, we are planning to replace the old floppy drive with safe digital equipment by the end of 2017, "he says about plans to upgrade the system to the latest one.

ByIntel Free Press

According to GAO, the federal government invested for IT system related in 2015 was 80 billion dollars (about 8.8 trillion yen), 75% of them invested in maintaining the existing system It is being used, and it is said that it is increasing in the past seven years. On the other hand, expenditure on development of new IT system, etc. seems to be decreasing year by year.

In addition, according to the report of GAO, the Ministry of Finance also uses an ancient IT system, where the "master file" with the business income etc. of individual taxpayers is being operated. This master file is precious in which information on taxes is written, and it seems that it is very important to impose taxes on taxpayers by using this information and return them. But even such an important systemAssembly languageIt is obsolete written in code, "It is very time-consuming to maintain this." Although it seems that the US Treasury Department has a basic design of a new system, it says in the report that "There is no confirmation that the system will be changed".

In addition to that, the US Department of Defense, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Commerce, Ministry of Health and Human Services, Deputy Veterans Affairs Bureau, etc. also revealed that the OS released from Microsoft in the 1980s and 1990s is still in use It is.

ByN Stjerna