US manages nukes via floppy disks

Washington, May 26

The US may have the world’s latest and powerful weapons but its nuclear force still use obsolete floppy disks designed in the 1970s to coordinate some of its operational functions, says a new watchdog report.

A report by the US Government Accountability Office (GAO) said the Pentagon was still using 1970s-era computing systems that require “eight-inch floppy disks”.

Such disks were already becoming obsolete by the end of that decade, being edged out by smaller, non-floppy 3.5 to 5.25-inch disks, before being almost completely replaced by the CD in the late 90s. That type of computer using floppy disks debuted in 1976, when Gerald Ford was US President.

Federal legacy IT investments are becoming increasingly obsolete: many use outdated software languages and hardware parts that are unsupported. Agencies reported using several systems that have components that are, in some cases, at least 50 years old, the report said. The GAO report said US government departments spent upwards of $60 billion a year on operating and maintaining out-of-date technologies. That’s three times the investment on modern IT systems, CNN reported.

The report said the Pentagon was planning to replace its floppy systems — which currently coordinate intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), nuclear bombers and tanker support aircraft — by the end of 2017.

Other departments were also put on notice to update their systems. The US Treasury for example, still depends on assembly language code “initially used in the 1950s”. — PTI