'Minor' Software Glitch Is Cited in Missile Failure -WP

[Rose Siding]

The test failure last month of the Bush administration's new missile defense system resulted from a "very minor" computer software glitch that can be easily corrected and will have no effect on the system's ability to defend the United States against attack, the general in charge of the Pentagon program said yesterday.

Lt. Gen. Henry "Trey" Obering III, who directs the Pentagon's Missile Defense Agency, said the flight test will be tried again in mid-February, and other tests scheduled for later this year will proceed as planned.
...
In retrospect, Obering said, designers of the interceptor had imposed too tight a limit on the number of allowable missed messages.

"It turns out we had overly constrained the system," he said.

Obering called the chances of such a glitch occurring "very rare." If it had happened during an actual crisis, with an enemy missile heading toward the United States, the system would have simply bypassed the faulty interceptor and launched another one, Obering said.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A4973-2005Jan12.html

[rkc3]

1. Why is it always a "minor" problem?

It something blows up before it should, or if the wrong surgery is performed and someone dies - its not minor in my book.

[McKenzie]

2. The Blue Screen of Death takes on

a whole new meaning! "Windows cannot find the missile you are looking for. Select a country from the Axis of Evil Nations using the drop-down menu and look there"

I wonder who is making a bundle out of that little defence project...

[VegasWolf]

4. Incoming missles detected. Please reboot your system now. n/t

[gatorboy]

17. Heh!!!!

EOM

[Canuckistanian]

3. Just like a 'minor' crack in a dam, right?

Or a 'minor' intelligence failure, no?

[Thurston Howell IV]

5. This is only the first "minor" bug

I'm sure there must be hundreds more waiting to rear their ugly little heads.

They'll get it right the next time, no doubt.

[VegasWolf]

6. If the defense corporations wern't making so much money off "StarWars"

they would have given up on the damn thing long ago.

[aden_nak]

7. There's another "minor glitch" here.

Even once they get the interceptors firing, they still have a pathetic rate of success shooting down the incoming missiles. We were unable to hit a reasonable percentage of incoming warheads under our own ideal test situation. Specificly, when the defense system had been given the exact tragectory of the "test" warhead beforehand.

At least this way the launching system does as much NOTHING as the interception system. Good thing we're not spending all of this money on ARMOR FOR THE TROOPS.

[madrchsod]

8. the" very minor" glitch is that the russians

have already countered the abm system by upgrading their mobile launch systems. the abm system the us is developing cannot track the russian missle at the point of launch. the system maybe able to track the launch of a fixed based missile if the "enemy" doesn`t create false heat signatures of a launch

[Sin]

9. Its only a minor bug till

Like a city is vaporised then crawls up the pile of bullshit to personnel or mechanical failure.
I'm quite sure that many more minor bugs will continue to crawl out of this money sink hole for the next 4 to X years upon that time it will be found inviable and do for a complete overhaul Requiring more money or just decommissioned because the face of war has changed.
So yea some one better get Chewbaca on the case to fix that minor bug.

[zbdent]

10. WH memo to London, England - "Sorry, just installed the Windows XP

Service pack. We apologize for any loss of life that occurred . . ."

[NYC]

11. Are they saying it still won't work anyway?

...will have no effect on the system's ability to defend the United States against attack...

The system has no ability to defend. So, if the minor software glitch &/or its correction will have no effect, the system still won't work.

[daleo]

12. A minor glitch

Like all those minor glitches during the election. Pay no attention to that glitch behind the curtain.

[fob]

13. "will have no effect on the system's ability to defend the United States

against attack"


Of THAT I have no doubt, because the effing thing doesn't work!!

Exactly how do you deploy the system against saudi's wielding boxcutters?

[Boosterman]

14. Oh planes are easy...oh nm wasnt supposed to say that. eom

[louis-t]

15. During Clinton admin

system worked 30-40% of the time. Clinton said (correctly)that it was not acceptable. * now brags it's success is 70-80% but doesn't tell you that it uses actual 'enemy' missile trajectory and/or tracking device to program interceptor. Lyin', cheatin', thievin' bunch of so and so's.

[sweetheart]

16. Minor software glitch is citied for Election Fraud... sorry

It was simply too many messages, and the software had a narrow
constraint on who was allowed to get that many messages... In an
actual election, this would only be used to keep the people from
taking back the government... nothing here folks... go back to sleep.

[FogerRox]

18. Russia tested a new re-entry vehicle for Nukes

Hyper sonic -manuvuerable. Try and hit that sucker--Bush-bet ya wont touch it