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Software glitch "unlikely" to blame for deadly cannon incident, expert says
While some have speculated that a software glitch may been the cause of the deadly anti-aircraft cannon incident in South Africa last week, a defense expert is now casting doubt on that notion, saying that it is more likely the result of a "simple mechanical failure." According to Jim O'Halloran of Jane's Land-Based Air Defence (speaking to NewScientist), "if a shell was jammed in the breech and the cordite then fired, it could set off the ammunition in the canisters," which would in turn send the turret spinning. O'Halloran went on to say that it's "a very tragic accident, but it is not a robot gone out of control." As reported earlier, both the police and a Board of Inquiry are now investigating the matter, although there's been no firm conclusions from either as of yet.
Software glitch investigated as possible cause of deadly robot cannon incident
According to ITWeb, the South African National Defense Force is now investigating the possibility that a software glitch may have been the cause of deadly anti-aircraft cannon "malfunction" that left nine soldiers dead and 14 seriously wounding during an exercise last Friday. The robot cannon in question is an Oerlikon GDF-005 which, as ITWeb points out, was apparently "not designed for fully automatic control," yet that is just how it was operating in this case, although Oerlikon itself reportedly played no role in the upgrades. While Defense Force spokesman Kwena Mangope apparently isn't going any further than to describe the incident as a "mechanical problem," both the police and a Board of Inquiry are now looking to get to the bottom of the matter, although there's no word as to when they expect to report their findings.[Via Danger Room, thanks David D]
