"Half a billion bucks of UI"

I don't usually just post a link (that's what http://del.icio.us/aufflick is for), but I like a good exposé of horrible and expensive software.

Take a look at this software screen from a US Defense system:

Here's my comments:

Not to defend the UI, which admittedly seems poor, most people will look at it and think "yuk what a horrible UI" because of the colour and simplicity. That is, however, what you should be doing because when under poor conditions (ie. battlefield) you want very high contrast.

That aside, here's what strikes me about the interface. The cryptic F I P R O A etc. down the bottom right are stupid - what do they mean? Is the progression red, orange, amber, green an indication of severity or just different colours? If the former, then it's awkward that a change in the black number on red will be less easy to notice than against the yellow or white. And what's with the two slightly different clip boards at bottom right?

The black on brown tab is impossible to read.

Source (of the image and the title): http://sturob.com/blog/2007/05/21/half-a-billion-bucks-of-ui