Clinton -- doomed & wagging, Japan collapses, Y2K bug, etc Message Board

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : Clinton -- doomed & wagging, Japan collapses, Y2K bug, etc

Public Reply Prvt Reply Mark as Last Read File

Previous 10 Next 10 Previous Next

To: Sidney Reilly who wrote (824)	12/7/1998 9:29:00 AM
From: SOROS	Read Replies (1) of 1151

Nato alert over Russian missile millennium bug London Times - 12/03/98 NATO has offered to co-operate with Moscow to ensure that Russia's nuclear missile forces avoid a "millennium bug" computer breakdown. The potential risks posed by the failure of computers to re-cognise the millennium date change are regarded as so serious that the alliance wants a full exchange with Moscow to find out what the Russians are doing about the problem. Although the command and control fail-safe systems that are linked to nuclear weapons should be adequate to prevent an accidental missile launch, there are concerns that computer glitches in the early-warning stations or other nuclear support equipment could have unpredictable consequences. President Clinton and President Yeltsin signed an agreement in September under which Washington and Moscow would exchange data from their early-warning systems to reduce the risk of missiles being launched because of a false warning of attack. However, under pressure from the United States, Nato has now gone further by making a formal request to the Russians to consider fully co-operating to meet the risks that are posed by the millennium bug to military computers. One Nato official said: "We are not talking about a cataclysmic scenario, with missiles being launched by computer malfunctions. "In fact, the Russians have a more manual system controlling their intercontinental missiles than the Americans do. "But we have no idea what Russia is doing about the millennium bug and whether it will affect a whole range of systems, not just nuclear wea-pons - such as air traffic control. What we're worried about is that the Russian military are so under-resourced that they may be sleep-walking into the next century and sweeping this potential problem under the carpet." The alliance offer was put to Moscow three days ago at the monthly ambassadorial meeting of the Nato-Russia Permanent Joint Council, which was set up to discuss security issues of common interest. Sergei Kiseljak, the Russian Ambassador, agreed to pass Nato's request to Moscow. The alliance wants to make it a priority for the permanent joint council next year. One area of sensitivity would be Russia's reaction to any offer from the US to examine missile systems to check for possible millennium bug malfunctions. The US Defence Department alone has 4,000 computer systems and billions of dollars are being spent to ensure they operate normally in 2000. The main challenge is that weapon systems rely on huge numbers of microchips which are difficult to locate.

Report TOU Violation

Share This Post

Public Reply Prvt Reply Mark as Last Read File

Previous 10 Next 10 Previous Next