

28 soldiers die due to .34 second clock offset (1992) - spiffytech
http://fas.org/spp/starwars/gao/im92026.htm

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makmanalp
"Consequently, Army officials modified the software to improve the system's
accuracy. However, the modified software did not reach Dhahran until February
26, 1991--the day after the Scud incident. "

That, to me, makes it doubly tragic. When they knew, they should have alerted
everyone immediately, and the update should have been top priority. At least
they could have known of the risk and taken precautions. Does bring up an
interesting angle to the zero day / responsible disclosure question. I guess
if the baddies know of a vulnerability already, delaying disclosure might
cause more harm then less.

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holograham
An interesting take-away from this article is how good military software was
back in the day -- to think a system developed in the 60's was re-purposed 30
years later to track and intercept smaller objects traveling 2.5 times faster
is impressive.

Once, working on military software projects were practically the ONLY
programming jobs and naturally attracted the best and brightest minds. Now-a-
days with decreased military R&D budgets and the rise of the software startup
most developers do not even consider the stodgy military industrial complex as
a career decision.

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manicdee
The soldiers died due to a Patriot system that was active for over 100 hours
failing to detect the incoming missile. The error in tracking was over 600m.

The submitted title is misleading and indicates that the submitter didn't
actually read the article (or is attempting to produce a click bait headline).

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nandemo
"You can get much farther with a slightly wrong clock and a Scud than you can
with a slightly wrong clock alone."

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rdl
Pretty amazing how great Iron Dome is vs. Patriot.

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sliverstorm
Iron Dome is, of course, just a _tad_ newer.

This report is from 1992, regarding an incident in 1991.

Iron Dome went into service in 2011.

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altcognito
Also, Patriot was made for hitting much larger targets and a whole host of
other considerations (like being mobile instead of fixed). Iron Dome doesn't
even attempt to take something down until the target is over a safe region.
It's just a completely different beast:

[http://blog.vdcresearch.com/embedded_hw/2012/11/iron-dome-
vs...](http://blog.vdcresearch.com/embedded_hw/2012/11/iron-dome-vs-patriot-
missile-systems-key-architectural-differences.html)

