Does the US really use C64 computers for the launch control of their missiles?

Does the US really use C64 computers for the launch control of their missiles? - Crop faceless man inputting cables in system unit

In Season 09 E07 of NCIS Los Angeles we can see the inside of a launch control center for nuclear missiles.

The two terrorists that brought the control center under their control are clearly using a Commodore C64 (from the 80s!) for entering the coordinates.

Here are two screenshots from the scene that I am referring to:

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I can't believe this is true.



Best Answer

Essentially, yes, they are using 1970/80s technology

Here's a section of a visit by 60 minutes which shows the inside of a silo and covers the reasons for the older tech.

Article covering the same for those with lower bandwidth.

Using it means that cyber access is essentially impossible.

There is no internet access, they use the old giant floppy discs etc.

also

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Pictures about "Does the US really use C64 computers for the launch control of their missiles?"

Does the US really use C64 computers for the launch control of their missiles? - Crop faceless man fixing cables in system unit
Does the US really use C64 computers for the launch control of their missiles? - Fragment of modern spacecraft with printed flag of United States of America during assembly in rocket factory
Does the US really use C64 computers for the launch control of their missiles? - Futuristic interior of spaceship simulator for test flight mission



What is the password of the nuclear bomb?

Well, for two decades, all the Minuteman nuclear missiles in the US used the same eight-digit numeric passcode to enable their warheads: 00000000. That fact, originally revealed in a column in 2004 by then-president of the Center for Defense Information Dr.

Do we still use missile silos?

Today they are still used, although many have been decommissioned and hazardous materials removed. The increase of decommissioned missile silos has led governments to sell some of them to private individuals.

Where are the US nuke silos?

During the Cold War between the U.S. and the former Soviet Union, government officials began to install intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) silos in the middle of the country, specifically in sparsely populated areas of northern Colorado, Wyoming, Nebraska, Montana, and North Dakota.



Albert Charpentier discusses the VIC chip and the design of the Commodore C64 w/Bil Herd Ben Jordan




More answers regarding does the US really use C64 computers for the launch control of their missiles?

Answer 2

They use exactly what they were built with.... in the 1980's. They "can't" be modernised, nothing is compatible.... Nor is it necessary. The system works. One of the issues the government has with the silos is that the companies that made many of the components have been out of business for years. There aren't even drawings, much less someone to make a one off for a replacement part. No fear, we have "lots and lots" of silos around the country. They don't all need to work.

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Images: Anete Lusina, Anete Lusina, SpaceX, SpaceX