Center receives DOD’s most powerful supercomputer

  • Published
  • By Dinah Luneke
  • Advanced Computational Analysis Directorate
WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio (AFPN) --  Aeronautical Systems Center’s major shared resource center officials here announced April 25 the installation of the newest and most powerful supercomputer in the Department of Defense.

The 2,048-processor supercomputer will aid weapon systems design of innovative materials, advance design concepts, improve and speed modification programs, increase high fidelity simulations and allow more efficient tests and evaluations.

“In our efforts to serve more than 1,000 researchers throughout the DOD, we needed a supercomputer with industry-leading capability, scalability, production quality, ease of use and the ability to handle massive amounts of data,” said Steve Wourms, deputy director for the center’s advanced computational analysis directorate. “This supercomputer will help power groundbreaking research and development for the DOD weapon systems of the future.”

The supercomputer expands the capability to more than 4,100 processors spread across five separate shared memory systems.

“Our high-performance computing technology today is creating new ways for the Department of Defense to achieve military advantage and warfighting superiority on the 21st century battlefield,” said Benn Stratton, national director of defense and civilian agencies business unit for Silicon Graphics, Inc., the computer’s manufacturer.

“This massive shared-memory system allows DOD to simulate entire aircraft, entire weapon systems and entire battlefield engagements with a fidelity not possible before now,” he said.

The supercomputer contains 41 racks, each of which uses as much power and cooling as a regular four-bedroom house, and more than 1,400 interconnecting cables. The increased performance and scalability will help put advanced technology in the hands of U.S. forces more quickly, less expensively and with greater certainty of success.

The supercomputer is finishing up its initial 30-day test period.