Re: SBIRS, Ada and Ignorance

In <NhHqf.36784$dO2.21414@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> Since my name (creatively spelled, but I think Robert meant me) came
> up in the discussion below, I will research the matter and see if I
> can get an email off to the right people from my DoD account.

Yes, it was your name I was mangling.

>
> I'll probably get myself in trouble, but it won't be the first time.
>
> As to the term "bozo," none of the USAF people involved deserve this
> appellation. They
> are simply reacting to the ignorance about Ada that seems to prevail
> throughout the larger software community. My experience with the
> USAF decision-makers is that they are doing their best to make
> responsible decisions on behalf of the National Defense. They are
> being misinformed by contractors whose self-interest sometimes
> preempts what ought to be their better judgement.

At the level of the Secretary and Undersecretary I expect them to be far
removed from direct knowledge of the progject but somebody dropped the
ball. I expect it is in the USAF Project office. Those managers have
an oversight responsilbity and since it involves billions of tax payer
dollars and national defense it is a task that should not just rely on
the contractors information. Did this project have a V&V contractor?
I'll have to look.

I do note that Secretary Wynne has previously worked for LockMart, the
prime contractor for SBIRS. It may be that he is too cosy with his old
employers but I doubt it.

It should be noted that the USAF has several big ticket satellite
programs all well over budget and years behind schedule. T-Sat, Space
Based Radar and others join SBIRS as projects in trouble. Most of them
are due to sensor problems and general poor management. Some should be
more like R&D programs that operational projects.

Since the Secretary has brought up software as an issue on this
satellite I want to know what was the real cause of the problem. I
can't believe Ada is a cause in its own right. Was it compiler/tool
problems? Was it a bad software architecture? Was there a valid set of
requirements that were stable?
.