Military invests more than $60 million this week in high-performance computing (HPC) in two contracts
HUNTSVILLE, Ala., 11 Dec. 2014. U.S. military researchers announced an influx of more than $60 million this week into a U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) program to enhance high-performance computing (HPC) for advanced research work.
Officials of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers support center in Huntsville, Ala., announced separate $30.75 million contracts this week to acquire commercially available high-performance computing systems for the DOD's High Performance Computing Modernization Program.
On Monday the Army Corps of Engineers announced a $30.75 million contract modification to Cray Inc. in Seattle, and announced a $30.75 million modification on Tuesday to Silicon Graphics Federal Inc. in Annapolis Junction, Md.
The DOD's High Performance Computing Modernization Program was begun in 1993 to modernize DOD's supercomputer infrastructure to address the military's most significant challenges like exploring new theories; using validated applications in design and testing to reduce the time and cost of developing weapon systems; and carrying out complex calculations in real-time to produce just-in-time information for decision makers on the battlefield.
The program seeks to develop and field the most advanced supercomputers and storage systems available for routine use by military researchers at the program's five supercomputing centers across the nation.
Among the most important projects of the High Performance Computing Modernization Program is the Defense Research and Engineering Network (DREN) -- a component of the Global Information Grid (GIG) that provides high-bandwidth, low-latency computer networking that serves as a proving ground for new networking and cyber security technologies.
The contract to Cray involves high-performance computing resources at the DOD's Supercomputing Resource Center at the John C. Stennis Space Center, Miss. Cray's work should be finished by July 2019.
The contract to Silicon Graphics involves complex calculations at the DOD Supercomputing Resource Center at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, for the Air Force Research Laboratory. The Silicon Graphics work should be finished by July 2019.
Cray specializes in supercomputers, open-systems data storage, and analytics for real-time data discovery. Silicon Graphics focuses on high-performance computers and data storage for Big Data applications.
For more information contact Cray online at www.cray.com, Silicon Graphics at www.sgi.com, the DOD High-Performance Computing Modernization Program office at www.hpc.mil, or the Army Engineering and Support Center-Huntsville at www.hnc.usace.army.mil.
John Keller | Editor
John Keller is editor-in-chief of Military & Aerospace Electronics magazine, which provides extensive coverage and analysis of enabling electronic and optoelectronic technologies in military, space, and commercial aviation applications. A member of the Military & Aerospace Electronics staff since the magazine's founding in 1989, Mr. Keller took over as chief editor in 1995.
