Winston
Lorenzo von Matterhorn
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Dont' tell anyone, but the Fail-Safe code is CAP811...
USAF Replaces Bulky Tape Cartridges For Loading Launch Codes Into ICBMs
October 3, 2017
https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zo...artridges-for-loading-launch-codes-into-icbms
The DTU loads the Missile Guidance Set, which is the brain of the Minuteman III, with sensitive cryptographic data and other information the missile needs in order to function, U.S. Air Force Captain Kevin Drumm, the codes operations chief at the 91st Operation Support Squadron, explained to the services reporters. The DTU has increased productivity and shortened the time required to conduct coding operations.
Shortening the time is putting it mildly. Before the upgraded units arrived, the 91st was using a system called the Launch Facility Load Cartridge to program tape memory cartridges with all the necessary data. According to Drumm, it would take 45 minutes to build the data set, which personnel would then spend another 30 minutes loading into a single missile.
On top of that, the cartridge programming equipment was so old that it could only fit enough information for one missile on a single tape cartridge tape unit, which weighed approximately 45 pounds each. The information for each missile is unique for security purposes, so the wings code team would need to run through the process 50 times and lug all of the cassettes out to the dispersed launch facilities.
Instead, the new system can build a missiles full mission data package in 30 minutes and load it into the weapon in less than 10 minutes. Each Data Transfer Unit can hold the information for 12 missiles and weighs just 20 pounds. The Air Force did not say whether the new system is still tape based, which remains a popular high-density data storage format.
All of this saves valuable time and effort during the annual change of codes across the Air Forces ICBM arsenal, nicknamed Operation Olympic Step, as well as whenever the service might need to update other parts of the missiles software. U.S. Air Force General Robin Rand, head of Air Force Global Strike Command, which oversees all of the services strategic nuclear elements, specifically highlighted the long work hours for missileers supporting the ICBM mission during a panel discussion at the Air Force Associations annual Air, Space, and Cyber Conference in September 2017.
USAF Replaces Bulky Tape Cartridges For Loading Launch Codes Into ICBMs
October 3, 2017
https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zo...artridges-for-loading-launch-codes-into-icbms
The DTU loads the Missile Guidance Set, which is the brain of the Minuteman III, with sensitive cryptographic data and other information the missile needs in order to function, U.S. Air Force Captain Kevin Drumm, the codes operations chief at the 91st Operation Support Squadron, explained to the services reporters. The DTU has increased productivity and shortened the time required to conduct coding operations.
Shortening the time is putting it mildly. Before the upgraded units arrived, the 91st was using a system called the Launch Facility Load Cartridge to program tape memory cartridges with all the necessary data. According to Drumm, it would take 45 minutes to build the data set, which personnel would then spend another 30 minutes loading into a single missile.
On top of that, the cartridge programming equipment was so old that it could only fit enough information for one missile on a single tape cartridge tape unit, which weighed approximately 45 pounds each. The information for each missile is unique for security purposes, so the wings code team would need to run through the process 50 times and lug all of the cassettes out to the dispersed launch facilities.
Instead, the new system can build a missiles full mission data package in 30 minutes and load it into the weapon in less than 10 minutes. Each Data Transfer Unit can hold the information for 12 missiles and weighs just 20 pounds. The Air Force did not say whether the new system is still tape based, which remains a popular high-density data storage format.
All of this saves valuable time and effort during the annual change of codes across the Air Forces ICBM arsenal, nicknamed Operation Olympic Step, as well as whenever the service might need to update other parts of the missiles software. U.S. Air Force General Robin Rand, head of Air Force Global Strike Command, which oversees all of the services strategic nuclear elements, specifically highlighted the long work hours for missileers supporting the ICBM mission during a panel discussion at the Air Force Associations annual Air, Space, and Cyber Conference in September 2017.
