"...the delay in distributing the software from the United States to all Patriot locations was due to the time it took to arrange for air and ground transportation in a wartime environment."
Fascinating to think that just 23 years ago, the only way to transmit the updated software was by physically transporting it from one location to another.
Just for fun: this predates ssh. Everyone was still using telnet to log in to remote boxes.
23 years ago, Slashdot didn't exist.
23 years ago, Linux had just gotten started. For all practical purposes, it wouldn't exist for another month yet.
23 years ago, Mosaic (the first "modern" web browser) didn't yet exist. That was OK, because CERN was the only website; the www didn't exist yet either.
I don't see any reason the software update process needs to be more secure than the firing process, and presumably these batteries can be fired remotely.
Fascinating to think that just 23 years ago, the only way to transmit the updated software was by physically transporting it from one location to another.