America's Nuclear Arsenal Is Still Controlled By Antique Computers With Floppy Disks

CBS News

A major cheating scandal amongst Air Force nuclear missile launch officers has brought increased scrutiny on the U.S. nuclear arsenal, and an upcoming report from CBS "60 Minutes" gives a rare look inside the day-to-day military job plagued with low morale and weak management.

In a report to air on Sunday, CBS Correspondent Lesley Stahl traveled to a missile field near an Air Force base in Cheyenne, Wyo., revealing a nondescript site - the silo is below ground - that looks like a fenced-in lot surrounded by farms.

CBS News

But inside, she found technology still being used that was built in the 1960s, to include analog telephone systems that missileers complain makes communication difficult, and decades-old computer systems using floppy disks, which an Air Force general regards as good for security, as it is not connected to the internet.

When asked of why she was given access to such a secure facility on CBS "This Morning," Stahl speculated that the Air Force "wanted to assure people that while there was cheating, they're dealing with it, and basically, the system is safe. And anytime they find it isn't, they're gonna pounce on it."

Here's preview of the report and a discussion with Stahl: