F-22 Trips Over International Date Line

Two weeks ago we linked to this story about a software malfunction on the F-22 that delayed a squadron of the stealth fighters from being deployed to Japan's Kadena Air Base.

Now reader Bill Walsh sends along a link to this story from Daily Tech explaining what went wrong. It seems that crossing the international date line prompted a system wide computer crash on multiple aircraft.

But while the simulated war games were a somewhat easy feat for the Raptor, something more mundane was able to cripple six aircraft on a 12 to 15 hours flight from Hawaii to Kadena Air Base in Okinawa, Japan. The U.S. Air Force's mighty Raptor was felled by the International Date Line (IDL).

When the group of Raptors crossed over the IDL, multiple computer systems crashed on the planes. Everything from fuel subsystems, to navigation and partial communications were completely taken offline. Numerous attempts were made to "reboot" the systems to no avail.

One of the most advanced weapons systems in the world, and it tripped over an imaginary line.