InsideTech

Multix and its versions are what the Military uses.  They have SCO Unix in their tanks and other vehicles (specialized of course).  Then there is the NSA release of Linux (publicly available).  Beyond that (I'm guessing on this one) they use some embedded Unix/Linux for their unmaned stuff.

Hehe The military has almost as many OSes as they have computers.

Communication in the military is often sadly lacking, and coordination between projects is almost unheard of.

Any time the military starts a new project, they tend to try and reinvent the wheel.

(I should know, I spent 9 years in 2 different branches  working with computers, and trying to change that practice.)

Also, unless it's for actual real time tactical use, most of the military's computer systems are about 15 to 20 years obsolete, or at least they were when I was in. The only place you'll find bleeding edge technology is on the battlefield.

Now you know why "military intelligence" is an oxymoron.  This is what you get when you let non-IT people run an IT department. I'm pretty sure Phreadd would agree - if the military ever wants it's network and computer systems to evolve out of the Jurassic period, they're going to have to turn to academia and professional civilian resources to do it. Lets just hope they have somebody around with brains enough to keep them away from Micro$oft and Smell... um, Dell.

I had an uncle in the National Gaurd - he was a comptroller for the Central Nebraska regional HQ (now defunct) for almost 20 years. Roger used to tell me, "When you get your degree, come down to the unit and fix this crap, will ya?" Of course he was being facetious, but he griped about the computer systems constantly and I know he was wishing he could be serious about it. The last time I visited him while he was doing his "Weekend Warrior" duties - this was about 8 years ago - he showed me one of the office desktops. They were still running it on Windows 98! Not even 98 S.E.! I don't think I quit laughing until after I left the parking lot.

I'm still not exactly sure what OS is used, I kinda think Unix but the application itself is in Java.  The hardware configuration itself is a nightmare, and when you try to troubleshoot communication issues, well, lets just say it's near impossible to do when you have everyone from a Battalion Commander on down trying to get a status report on when your system will be up.

SUTTONDAVE1 says ...

I just put some furnaces and air-conditioners in a navy building. The IT guys from the navy still have not been there to install there computers but they are secretive about them. They also do not make connections outside the building. If they are so secretive then why is their information on software and operating systems available to the public? Why would they not have their own OS that is not detected to civilians?

Why are they so secretive? It could be partly because they are embarrassed to reveal just how antiquated the junk they are working on is.

I work in the military. Most of our newer systems are Windows on Dell. There are the old standards of Server 2003 and Windows Xp Pro. Sun Micro makes some of the other OS. It is a  Unix/Linux based system with a GUI overlay to make it user friendly. I still love the Unix/Linux systems. It is a shame that no one wants to learn them. Command line interface rocks.