Nuclear Submarines Upgraded to Windows OS

Microsoft's initial motto, a “Windows computer on every desk and in every home,” simply fails to do any more justice to the operating system. The Redmond company's proprietary platform is now stretching from the cloud with Windows Azure to nuclear submarines. No less than 12 submarines from the Royal Navy have been upgraded to the Submarine Command System Next Generation (SMCS NG), via BAE Systems. The deployment of the Windows-based SMCS NG system was completed half a year ahead of the original schedule, a program that ended with the installation of the updated command solution on HM submarines Triumph and Tireless.

“Windows for Submarines is the program undertaken by the Royal Navy and BAE Systems to equip the nuclear-propelled and nuclear-armed warship fleet with a Windows-based command system. The transition to the Windows for Submarines command system on HMS Vigilant, a Trident nuclear missile submarine, was completed in just 18 days.”

“The Windows for Submarines program is an example of one of the many areas where Microsoft works in partnership with the MOD to ensure that our products have the resilience, security, and communications efficiency required to operate effectively in challenging military environments,” Ian McKenzie from the Microsoft UK marketing team for Government revealed.

Royal Navy’s submarine command system installation program has involved no less than a dozen submarines, seven of which were Trafalgar-class, four Vanguard-class, and one Swiftsure-class. The transition to SMCS NG is designed to generate cost savings of £22 million over the course of the next 10 years. The service is essentially a modern system architecture built on mainstream PCs running the Windows operating system.

“This is a fantastic achievement,” Captain Pat O’Neill, leader of the Ministry of Defence’s Submarine Combat System Group, stated. “From speaking to operators and maintainers, I know how much they like SMCS NG. BAE Systems work is proof that we can get commercial off the shelf technology to sea quickly and support it affordably.”