As it turns out, the Pentagon coordinates the nuclear arsenal using a floppy disk. In a new report, prepared by the US Audit Office, information was found that indicates that the US Department of Defense still uses computer systems developed in the 70s of the last century, which use eight-inch floppy disks as storage media. Floppy disks lost their widespread use in the late 90s, being replaced by CDs.
Several of the agencies reported using systems whose components, in some cases, are more than fifty years old, according to the report. For example, the Department of Defense uses 8-inch or 20.32 cm diskettes in a long-obsolete system that coordinates the operational functions of the country's nuclear forces.
It was also revealed that the US Treasury Department uses assembly language code, a computer language originally used in the 1950s and usually tied to the hardware for which it was designed.
As part of its investigation, the Accounts Chamber stated that the US government spent more than $ 80 billion on information technology in a year.
The report said the Pentagon used floppy disks as part of its "strategic automated command and control system," which coordinates the operational functions of US nuclear forces such as intercontinental ballistic missiles, nuclear bombers and tanker air bases.