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Y2K prevention measure disrupted U.S. spy satellites for three days

SPECIAL TO WORLD TRIBUNE.COM
Friday, January 14, 2000

WASHINGTON -- U.S. spy satellites were affected by the Y2K bug for nearly three days, a disruption that was more substantial than reported by the Pentagon.

The Chicago Tribune on Thursday quoted officials as saying said that the entire constellation of high-accuracy and radar spy satellites was either out of service or functioning far below capacity for most of the holiday weekend. The Pentagon said the disruption was only for several hours.

The newspaper said a computer patch intended to avert Y2K glitches turned the flow of data from five spy satellites into garble. Within a few hours, Pentagon technicians redirected the satellite signals and began the slow process of manually deciphering the garbled signals.

The three-day shutdown occurred at a time when the entire U.S. intelligence community was on global alert for potential terrorist activity relating to year 2000 celebrations.

In an unrelated defense development, Northrop Grumman Corporation's Integrated Systems and Aerostructures announced the successful, fully autonomous first flight of an aircraft developed for the U.S. Navy's Vertical Takeoff and Landing Unmanned Aerial Vehicle competition. Wednesday's flight lasted 18 minutes as planned.

Executives said the aircraft completed the flight using differential Global Positioning System-aided inertial navigation for precision navigation to multiple waypoints. More extensive flight tests, including envelope expansion and additional autonomous navigation missions, are expected by March 1.

The Pentagon seeks a UAV that can carry a 200-lb. payload while taking off vertically, flying 110 nautical miles, loitering for three hours at up to 20,000 feet and returning to land vertically in a 25-knot wind from any direction. The aircraft will be equipped with electro-optical and infrared sensors and a laser designator that assists precision strike missions from other platforms.

Friday, January 14, 2000


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