The German Navy is searching for a new storage system to replace the aging 8-inch (20cm) floppy disks which are vital to the running of its Brandenburg class F123 frigates. According to an official tender document, the ideal answer to the German Navy’s problems would be a drop-in floppy disk replacement based upon a storage emulation system, reports Golem.de.
Germany’s Brandenburg class F123 frigates were commissioned in the mid 1990s, so it is understandable that floppy disks were seen as a handy removable storage medium. These drives are part of the frigates’ data acquisition system and, thus “central to controlling basic ship functions such as propulsion and power generation,” according to the source report.
It won’t be trivial to replace three decades old computer hardware seamlessly, while retaining the full functionality of the existing floppies. However, we note that other companies have wrestled similar problems in recent years. Moreover, there are plenty of emulator enthusiasts using technologies for floppy emulation solutions like Gotek drives which can emulate a variety of floppy drive standards and formats. There are other workable solutions already out there, but it all depends on who the German Navy chooses to deliver the project.
For civilian use but perhaps not in the West German Military. I say West Germany because the ships were ordered in June of 1989 and the Berlin Wall didn’t come down until November.
Europe in general, and Germany in particular, had some very peculiar technology quirks and companies back then.
Edit: It’s worth noting that while the contract was awarded in June of 1988 the ship design was being done in 87/88 which means the targeting system was probably designed in 85/86 when the 8" floppy was still prevalent, especially in Industrial and Commercial applications.
I was system operator for an IBM System/36 in the mid-late 1980s and that thing used two 10-slot magazines of 8" floppies for backup.
It was replaced in 1989 with an AS400 that used half-inch tape.
And that backup solution was replaced with an LTO library.