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The fleet of the richest European country still runs on vintage storage devices that have long been out of production

The German Navy still uses floppy disks on a daily basis, but not the relatively modern 3.5-inch ones, but the very ancient 8-inch ones. They are part of the computer systems of German anti-submarine frigates. Only now the fleet leadership has decided to abandon the old carriers, but this will not be easy.

Upgrade through decades

The German navy has begun searching for a replacement for the 8-inch floppy disks that are vital for the operation of the Brandenburg F123 class frigates, writes Tom’s Hardware. These frigates were created to fight submarines, and their electronics are still tied to 20-centimeter floppy disks, which went out of use in the early 80s of the last centuries

These floppy disks are central to the control of the frigate's major systems, including the propulsion system and the ship's propulsion system, writes Tom's Hardware.

8-inch floppy disks are, in principle, the world's first floppy disks. Their premiere took place in the mid-60s of the 20th century, and sales began in 1971. In 1976, they were replaced by much more compact 5.25-inch floppy disks. In 1981, floppy disks shrank to 3.5 inches, and at the beginning of the 21st century they almost completely disappeared - they were replaced first by CDs, then DVDs, and then by much larger USB flash drives.

Brandenburg F123 class frigate

Skip everything

All this progress, as it turned out, passed by the German fleet. The Brandenburg F123 frigates both used the most ancient type of flexible disks and continue to do so. Moreover, most importantly, there was a good chance that they would be equipped with 3.5-inch drives instead of 8-inch or, in extreme cases, 5.25-inch, since the first such frigates were put into operation in the mid-90s XX century. Back then, 3.5-inch floppy disks were at the peak of their popularity, but the developers apparently decided not to change anything in the design of the Brandenburg F123.

As a result, ancient giant floppy disks, each only a couple of hundred kilobytes in size, are still an important part of the computer data acquisition system on frigates.

German frigates use the largest (and oldest) floppy disks

Emulation as a way to solve the problem

As Tom’s Hardware writes, replacing 30-year-old computer equipment on German warships is not a trivial task in itself, and various difficulties may certainly arise on the way to this goal for the contractor, the Swedish company Saab. But the portal’s experts note that there are examples of successful refusal to use floppy disks in critical information systems. They also point out that there are various emulators that allow you to create virtual copies in systems of not only CD drives, but also drives for various floppy disks.

The evolution of floppy disk drives

It is not yet known which path the German Navy will take to solve the problem of eliminating 20-inch floppy disks from its frigates. Also, the German authorities and representatives of its fleet do not specify the time frame within which the goal must be achieved.

Take an example from Japan and not be like the USA

One of the most striking examples of a successful fight against dependence on ancient media was shown by the Japanese authorities. For decades, their entire bureaucracy was built on floppy disks, and any appeal by any citizen or guest of the country to any government agency had to be accompanied by a copy of all documents on a floppy disk.

At the beginning of July 2024, the Japanese public sector finally abandoned the use of floppy disks, although they had recently been mandatory for both officials and ordinary citizens. He moved towards this gradually, but still relatively quickly - the abandonment of these drives began two years ago.

Meanwhile, in the USA, floppy disks are still the basis of the entire railway of American San Francisco. Unlike Germany, the US authorities do not intend to modernize it until 2030, as CNews reported, because of this, the railway transportation system in the city could collapse at any moment.

Also, some old models of aircraft from the American company Boeing, which are still in operation in many countries around the world, also work on floppy disks. Floppy disks are needed to update software, including navigation.

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