He said the agreement will be signed Monday in Moscow by Russian Defense Minister Igor Sergeyev and US Defense Secretary Wiulliam Cohen, who departs Sunday for a two-day visit to Russia.

Under the arrangement, some 10 to 20 Russian military officers will join US military personnel in manning a center in Colorado Springs, Colorado to monitor near real-time data on missile launches.

"The Russians have agreed that this facility should be established, and have agreed to participate in it, and Secretary Cohen and Minister Sergeyev will be signing a joint statement in Moscow ... committing the two sides willingness to proceed with this joint effort," said the senior official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The agreement marks a resumption in cooperation between the US and Russian military on Y2K matters and discussions on sharing early warning data, which had been suspended in April after NATO launched an air war against Yugoslavia.

The Pentagon is not anticipating "any great problem" with Russia's computerized nuclear command and control systems, the defense official said, portraying the initiative as a confidence building measure.

It is "not because we are teetering on the edge of a potential false launch," he said.

It is believed that computers programmed to read the calendar year as two digits will be stumped on January 1 when the year 2000 registers as "00," throwing entire systems into turmoil.

Because Russian procedures require humans to turn the launch keys on nuclear missiles, US defense officials say they are not concerned about the danger of an automatic launch by an out-of-control computer.

But they are worried about what might happen if Russia's early warning satellites are blinded by a computer failure.

To prevent misunderstandings, Russian officers at the Colorado Springs center would be able to check early warning data with American officers, who could consult by voice with the US early warning command center in nearby Cheyenne Mountain, according to military officials.

The senior official said the center would operate from late December to early January.

Copyright 1999 AFP. All rights reserved. The material on this page is provided by AFP and may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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SPACEDAILY

Y2K: Looking Ahead, Looking Back
Washington - January 21, 2000 -
After more than a year of intense preparation -- as well as media hype and occasional hysterics -- for a millennium bug that, in the end, barely took a nibble out of key information systems throughout the world, it might be hard to do little more than yawn as the next Y2K deadline draws near.