The problems associated with the research, development, and testing of military weapons systems are considered. The paper also provides a tangential analogy to the development and testing of computer systems in general and to those associated with military weapons control. The major computing component of the paper is contained in seven bulleted statements that describe the programming languages and standards that have been adopted over the years by the British military. Technical measures that must be considered during the design and development phases of a project are discussed in such a way as to attempt to avoid references to military systems. These include discussions of random failures, systematic errors in design, human systems, interface, maintenance, and electromagnetic interference. The main conclusion is worth quoting since it is sometimes forgotten or at least not adhered to during the systems development process: “Errors in the initial specifications will propagate into every part of a system, even if redundancy and diverse implementations are used to minimize the risk of errors being introduced later.”