December 14, 2006: American nuclear submarines are having their computer networks upgraded with civilian equipment. The current systems, built to military specifications, are generally similar to civilian gear, but are more than a generation behind what is available on the open market. Because getting civilian gear "militarized" can take years, the navy is getting around the problem by going COTS (Commercial, Off-The-Shelf). Thus the subs are getting the latest Hewlett-Packard servers and Unix software. A fiber-optic network is being installed as well. The military is finding it cheaper, and more effective, to go the COTS route. Partly that's because, over the last decade, the military has had to basically use modified civilian systems for MILSPEC (military specifications) gear. That makes it easier to go COTS, and just buy civilian gear and put it to work in a nuclear sub, surface ship, or some place like Iraq.