A new report from the Government Accountability Office found that the system used to relay emergency messages to and from our nuclear forces is run through IBM hardware that dates back to the 1970s. The report characterized the computers used to operate and maintain our nuclear weapons as “museum-ready,” and noted that the people responsible for creating the system are retiring, leaving behind staffs that don’t know how to use the antiquated machines.
Before you applaud the government for saving money by squeezing every last kilobyte out of the old system, the report also found that the Pentagon spent upwards of $60 billion (with a b) to maintain the outdated equipment. Apparently, finding replacement parts for a computer older than Mark Zuckerberg is difficult and expensive.