Question

The “Software Engineering Code of Ethics And Professional Practice” states that a responsible software engineer should “Approve software only if they have well-founded belief that it is safe, meets specifications, passes appropriate tests. . .” (sub-principle 1.03) and “Ensure adequate testing, debugging, and review of software. . .on which they work” (sub-principle 3.10).

The software engineering code of ethics also states that a responsible software engineer should “Treat all forms of software maintenance with the same professionalism as new development.”

1. (a) Explain how the Software Engineering Code of Ethics And Professional Practice

   were violated by the Patriot Missile system developers.

2. (b) How should the engineers and managers at Raytheon have responded when they

   were asked to modify the Patriot Missile System to work outside of its original

   design parameters?

3. (c) What other ethical and non-ethical considerations may have contributed to the

   disaster?

Answer 1

Answer a) The Software Engineering Code of Ethics And Professional Practice were violated by the Patriot Missile system developers as they approved a software that was faulty and unsafe, which ended up killing 28 soldiers and injuring 98 others. The Patriot was originally designed to be a mobile system to defend against moving aircraft . It was expected that the system would be moved often and therefore the computer would be rebooted frequently, But the system was modified often in inconsistent ways leading to the disaster. The program was written in assembly language and was patched several time which not considered as good programming practices.

Answer b) If the engineers and managers at Raytheon would have responded ethically when they were asked to modify the Patriot Missile System to work outside of its original design parameters, then the incident may be diverted. Following the Software Engineering Code of Ethics And Professional Practice ediquate testing of the system was required and also to raise the issues found in the system. People at Raytheon had a tough decision to make which they failed.

Answer c) Other ethical and non-ethical considerations which may have contributed to the disaster are :

• Keeping the untested system out of hands of soldiers at war time .
• Approval of pachy and outdated software .
• late release of important software update .
• Use of defence system which was built for defending against slower aircraft than ballistic missiles.