This was in the 11/1/99 Aviation Week:

COMANCHE STICKS WITH ADA

                        Despite the Defense Dept. lifting the mandate to use
the Ada
                        programming language in 1997, Boeing is sticking
with Ada in Phase 3
                        development of the mission equipment package for the
Army's
                        RAH-66 Comanche helicopter. The company was pushing
toward
                        using a standard commercial language like C++, but
the Comanche
                        team believed that Ada's standardized architecture
was better for a
                        project in which several companies were doing the
programming, said
                        Gerry Furniss, the integrated product team lead
responsible for both
                        the target acquisition and pilotage systems. "There
are so many variants
                        of C and C++, and they're not as well structured as
Ada, so even
                        though you may settle on the same C++ language, the
coding standards
                        that go with it are always different," he said.
"You've got to put a shell
                        around it, where Ada already has one. Ada is a
language designed to
                        be used in a team environment." The software
development platform is
                        a variant of the DDC-I Ada Compiler System
customized for the
                        Comanche program. Boeing chose to continue using Ada
because it
                        supports open systems and interoperability, is
reliable, reusable,
                        verified during compilation, and it is easy to
understand previously
                        written code. Though software decisions are often
made based on
                        development cost, the subsequent maintenance is
60-80% of the total
                        life-cycle cost, a DDC-I official said.


> -----Original Message-----
> From: Tom Timberlake [SMTP:[log in to unmask]]
> Sent: Wednesday, November 17, 1999 2:31 PM
> To:   [log in to unmask]
> Subject:      Ada in the Press
>
> Ada gets a bit of good press in the 11/8/99 issue of Gov't Computer News,
> in an article on Software Development Tools pg 45.
>
> "Ada, the required language for most DOD projects from 1991 through 1993,
> is still strongly recommended for embedded systems and other defense work.
> The Information Technology Standards Guidance V3.1, which is still in
> effect, deprecates the use of C."
> ...
> "The same document recommends against C++, stating: 'because the mechanics
> of the C language are embedded in C++, it is susceptible to many of the
> above noted difficultiew with C ...  Use of C++ for the development of
> critical systems applications is not recommended.' "
>
> The article also lists 9 Ada compiler vendors.
>
> ===============
> Tom Timberlake
> The Boeing Company
> Phantom Works Software
> mailto:[log in to unmask]
>
> P.O. Box 3707
> Mail Stop 4A-25
> Seattle, WA.  98124-2207
> USA