--- title: "The US Army is Building a Supercomputer Inside a Storage Container" description: "The U.S. Army has built a $12 million powerful supercomputer that's small enough to fit inside a shipping container." date: "2019-08-07" modified: "2019-08-07" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/us-army-supercomputer-storage-container" categories: - "Computers" - "Computing" - "Robots and Machines" tags: - "army" - "supercomputer" - "the digest" - "us army" - "us army corp of engineers" --- # The US Army is Building a Supercomputer Inside a Storage Container ![]() *\Image: Huntsville Center\* ## Portable Supercomputer The U.S. Army has built a six petaflop — $12 million supercomputer, complete with a liquid cooling system and fire suppression system — that's small enough to fit inside a shipping container. According to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, it could [give soldiers a tactical edge in combat]() in remote locations. "Because of the sensitive nature of the work involved, we here at Huntsville Center will never know exactly the solutions this unique tool will provide in the field, but I am quite confident that our work will result in both lives saved and problems avoided," said Sally Parsons, Huntsville Center Information Technology Systems Division chief in [a statement](). ## Military Number Cruncher The six petaflop computer can only dish out a fraction of what [modern supercomputers]() are capable of, but it's tens of thousands of times more powerful than your average desktop. While it could bridge the gap and bring powerful data crunching capabilities to remote locations, it's unlikely to be delivered right into the middle of active combat, because it requires a substantial amount of power to run. **READ MORE:** *[US Army buys $12m IBM supercomputer in a shipping container, will test for tactical edge deployments]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()