THE SOFTWARE HORROR PICTURE SHOW

Patriot Missile Failure, 1991

An American Patriot missile failed to intercept an Iraqi Scud missile during the Gulf War. An American Army barrack was strucked and 28 soldiers were dead. The cause was an inaccurate calculation of the time since boot due to computer arithmetic errors.

 


Several Sources:

www.ima.umn.edu/~arnold/455.f96/disasters.html
www.ima.umn.edu/~arnold/disasters/patriot.html
www.fas.org/spp/starwars/gao/im92026.htm
shelley.toich.net/projects/CS201/patriot.html
www.fas.org/spp/starwars/congress/1992_h/h920407r.htm
www.cdi.org/issues/bmd/Patriot.html
science.howstuffworks.com/patriot-missile.htm/printable