Sunday, July 2, 2017

Is Britain's Newest Aircraft Carrier Running Its Software On Windows XP?

HMS Queen Elizabeth leaves for its maiden sea trials.Aircraft Carrier Alliance

Popular Mechanics: Does Britain's Big New Warship Still Run Windows XP?

HMS Queen Elizabeth is impressive. Her software is not.

HMS Queen Elizabeth, the Royal Navy's newest vessel and the largest one ever built in the United Kingdom, is an impressive ship. Nine hundred and nineteen feet long with a crew of 1,600, the ship can carry up to 40 aircraft. Queen Elizabeth and her sister ship, Prince of Wales, will form the UK's main expeditionary force at sea, sailing into hotspots with their decks full of F-35 Joint Strike Fighters.

Oh, and Queen Elizabeth also runs Windows XP.

The brand new carrier left its dockyard in Rosyth for the first time on Monday, where it was assembled from subsections built all over the UK. The London-based newspaper The Guardian reported that computers running the positively ancient PC operating system were spotted on the carrier during a tour.

Read more ....

WNU Editor: Maybe not .... Claims the Queen Elizabeth aircraft carrier is using Windows XP may not be what they seem (Wired).

More News On Reports That Britain's Newest Aircraft Carrier Is Running Its Software On Windows XP

HMS Queen Elizabeth could be vulnerable to cyber-attack -- The Guardian
Britain's new £3 billion aircraft carrier is reportedly running on Windows XP -- Business Insider
Microsoft Windows XP Spotted Aboard the UK's Newest War Ship -- Fortune
Britain's New Aircraft Carrier Reportedly Runs on Windows XP -- National Interest/Task & Purpose

2 comments:

MaoTin said...

It may be true. when I was working for Fujitsu 4 years ago on BAE contracts, they were using XP in some of their facilities/Offices.

Anonymous said...

I wouldn't so much worry about the direct safety aspects (as pretty much all of the XP exploits are out there, and have been out there and studied for a long time. ..whereas in newer OS you'll find new safety exploits on a daily basis)...but I'd be more concerned about what it means to the computational limitations eg processing power/speed.. but as long as secure communications via satellite uplink to the military cloud is possible - for the heavy tasks - it might just be enough for the day to day equivalent of a US navy being capable of shooting a hostile combatant ship in the face :)