Okay. *Some* planes test out. Some crash. No problem.

Diane

Nellis says military aircraft will be Y2K compliant
Thursday, June 17, 1999

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/news/archive/1999/06/17/state1756EDT0161.DTL

[Fair Use: For Educational/Research Purposes Only]

(06-17) 14:56 PDT LAS VEGAS (AP) -- U.S military aircraft will be Y2K compliant and will be able to ``fly, fight and win on Jan. 1 and beyond,'' according to an officer overseeing exercises at Nellis Air Force Base.

Lt. Col. Paul Avella, manager of Y2K Flag, said no surprises have been found in the four-day exercise, which ended Thursday. Y2K Flag is a major military exercise intended to assess the Air Force's ability to fight and win in the 21st century.

For three years, the Defense Department has been preparing for any computer glitches that might be encountered at the turn of the century, Avella said Wednesday.

Various aircraft were tested on the sprawling Nellis Air Force Range to determine if their complex computer systems are Y2K compliant.

Avella said no surprises were found in the mix of aircraft tested. U-2 and E-8C ``sensor'' surveillance craft communicated successfully, and B-2, F-117 stealth fighter, F-16 and F-15 aircraft responded to targets during a simiulated change of the calendar from Dec. 31 to Jan. 1.

Assessments also were made in anticipation of potential airstrikes on Feb. 29 during a leap year, which occurs every fourth year and will occur in 2000.

Avella said potential problems include readings of calendar dates on aircraft and pilot communications.

To avoid potential problems on Dec. 31 through Jan. 1 and on Feb. 29, dates can be reprogrammed. In the case of ground-based communications, vital equipment such as what Avella called a mission planning system can be fixed or ``patched'' through computer programming to function properly on those days.

Two F-15s participating in the Y2K Flag were injured, neither seriously, when their planes crashed Tuesday. The cause is under investigation.

-- Diane J. Squire (sacredspaces@yahoo.com), June 18, 1999

Answers

Mmmmm ... pilot got distracted while reprogramming the Feb. 29 date?

-- No Spam Please (nos_pam_please@hotmail.com), June 18, 1999.

I'll guarantee you one thing. The guys flying those birds believed that they were fixed.

I see this as genuine good news and no two ways about it.

-- Hardliner (searcher@internet.com), June 18, 1999.

The inclusion of the E-8C JSTARS aircraft on this list is encouraging. It's a computer-intensive, airborne radar system. Air-to- ground attack forces make great use of it.

The exclusion of the E-3A AWACS aircraft on this list is not encouraging. It's a computer-intensive, airborne radar system. All friendly forces aloft DEPEND on it.

WW

-- Wildweasel (vtmldm@epix.net), June 18, 1999.

Great Guys! Thanks.

That IS *some* good news. Notice, however, they also didnt mention anything about military air traffic control systems.

Diane

-- Diane J. Squire (sacredspaces@yahoo.com), June 19, 1999.

Wild Weasel, you dog you! Your scaring the civilians. All that military stuff,...just say our airplanes will be OK as per the orders from the White House. See, were're just fine. Uh, huh.....a little "b" alot of "s".

-- MidwestMike_ (midwestmike_@hotmail.com), June 20, 1999.