Windows For Warships Nearly Ready

mattaw writes "The Register is carrying the sanest and balanced article on Windows deployment in UK warships that I have read to date in the public domain. As an ex-naval bod myself we have long considered that this is potentially a REAL problem. The main issues are the huge amount of unrelated code that is imported with the kernel and the need for incredibly fast response times."

Comments

USS Yorktown & Blue Ridge

[AKAImBatman]

I'm sure we all remember how well things went for the U.S.S. Yorktown; an Aegis Class missile destroyer that ended up dead in the water after a crew member entered a zero into a database. Obviously, this was caused by the fact that the Yorktown's control software was of a really bad design. Critical systems should have never been so tightly linked that a failure in one area would cause a cascading failure across the ship. Still, it raised a lot of questions about the wisdom of using consumer software for life and death situations.

Two years after that, the Navy had still not learned their lesson. The flagship of the seventh fleet, the USS Blue Ridge, was deployed in 1999 with Windows-based Command and Control systems. The result? The ship was infected with the Melissa Macro Virus. (Source - Section 12.4)

I'm sorry, but when you're taking men into combat, you want equipment that has been designed to do what needs to be done, not pretty features that let the GIs open their email attachments. There's a reason why the current military setup in the US is for the crew to have their own laptops for personal use. Using a consumer OS in a battle-critical system is nothing but a recipe for disaster. It's too bad that Her Majesty's Navy has failed to learn from the mistakes of others.

Re:Sortof a Microsoft fanboy, but...

[AKAImBatman]

As the article shows, the previous software was terrible already.

I think you're missing the point. These are systems that control nuclear weapons. Not to mention, perserve the lives of sailors in both combat and non-combat situations. They've kept the existing systems because they work, not because they impress anyone. The prudent solution is to upgrade these systems cautiously, with an eye toward a zero possibility for failure. Which not only excludes the use of Windows, but excludes the use of Linux, Mac OS X, FreeBSD, or just about anything else that the military hasn't either built themselves or gone over with a fine-tooth comb.

Consider the case of NASA. The Space Shuttle still runs on IBM's AP-101 computer systems from the 1970's. The only upgrade was a move from TTL circuitry to a semiconductor design. (The AP-101S.) Astronauts still pull out the flight manual and punch in program codes to execute computer-controlled flight maneuvers. More sophisticated systems are available today, so why hasn't NASA upgraded the computers?

The answer is "because it works". The shuttle actually has 5 AP-101 computers, four of which are redundantly in sync to catch failures, and one which runs software written by a completely different team. Should any of the computers start giving different answers, NASA will immediately take measures to determine what is wrong, why, and how they can fix or work around it in whatever time window is available to them. (Obviously, some situations are tight on available time, and may require that manual control be established.) Just try getting that sort of reliability out of a Windows-based flight computer!

I know this is Slashdot, where nerds like their OSes. But there are times when the best solution for the job does not involve your favorite OS, hardware, or even your design philosophy. People's lives are on the line. It's best that the right choice be the one that provides the absolute best chance of preserving those lives rather than taking the chance (however infinitesimal) in exchange for some pretty buttons to click on.

I'm not saying that Her Majesty's Navy shouldn't upgrade her systems to ones with better combat effectiveness, but I am saying that Windows-based systems are not it. Not the software, not the hardware, and not the overall design. It's the wrong solution to the problem. I can only pray that it doesn't get someone killed.