Pentagon, Russia to discuss Y2K

Washington: A Pentagon delegation headed to Moscow on Tuesday for talks on the Year 2000 Y2K computer problem with the Russian military as well as other defense issues, Pentagon spokesman Kenneth Bacon said. The Pentagon has offered to cooperate with the Russians on the Y2K problem, amid US concerns that Russia8217;s nuclear command and control systems could be vulnerable to the so-called millennium bug. Washington has proposed sharing missile early warning data with Moscow as one way to counter misunderstandings that could arise from computer failures when the year 2000 rolls in. Bacon said the delegation led by Ted Warner, Assistant Secretary of Defence for strategy and requirements, will hold talks on US-Russian military relations while in Moscow, including the Y2K issue.

It also will join in meetings in Moscow of a US-Russian Strategic Stability Group headed on the US side by Deputy Secretary of State Strobe Talbott, which also will take up Y2K problem.