Australian Financial Review Jan 18, 1999 http://www.afr.com.au/content/990118/update/update21.html Russia faces huge Y2K problem says official Russia faces huge problems ensuring its missile systems will not be affected by the so-called "millennium bug" computer problem, a senior official was quoted as saying today. Alexander Krupnov, head of the State Committee for Communications and Information, said fixing the computer problem could cost the country $US1.5 to $US3 billion ($A2.4 to $A4.8 billion), up to six times his original estimate, ITAR-TASS reported. "Entities such as the defence ministry face great difficulties from the view point of all types of missiles," the news agency cited Krupnov as saying after a Russian-US investment symposium in the United States. "The technologies they have are 20 years old," he said, adding that "time is running out" to fix the problem ahead of the year 2000. Scientists warn that obsolete computer chips or software could mean that many systems will fail in 2000 because dates ending in "00" will be interpreted as the year 1900, triggering potentially crippling errors in logic. Analysts say the so-called "Y2K" problem could have devastating consequences for ballistic missiles, early warning defence systems and nuclear power stations, but none of the experts know for certain what exactly will happen on D-Day. When Russia launched its own "Y2K" program last July, Krupnov said Russia would need to spend some $US500 million ($A798 million) dollars overhauling its computers and software. But western officials warn Moscow has been slow to recognise the embedded microchip issue, involving tiny processors that perform vital control functions in a vast array of equipment, including cellular telephones, fax machines, heart pacemakers, monitoring equipment in nuclear plants, pipelines, radar and missiles. Krupnov said government departments were due to report shortly on their progress in updating their systems. His gloom contrasts sharply with the public serenity of defence chiefs. Strategic rocket force commander Vladimir Yakovlev last month said solving Y2K would cost his forces just 10 million rubles - less than $US500,000 ($A798,000). "The general feeling is that the situation is not as bad as they say and that there's no point in getting worked up about it," Mikhail Salnikov of the Compulog computer magazine told AFP last week. AFP c This material is subject to copyright and any unauthorised use, copying or mirroring is prohibited. ************************************************************************* This posting is provided to the individual members of this group without permission from the copyright owner for purposes of criticism, comment, scholarship and research under the "fair use" provisions of the Federal copyright laws and it may not be distributed further without permission of the copyright owner, except for "fair use." end ============== Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List http://www.alexia.net.au/~www/mhutton/index.html The Year 2000 Bug - An Urgent Sustainability Issue http://www.peg.apc.org/~psutton/grin-y2k.htm
