SCIENCE/TECHNOLOGY

Able Computer Communications has been awarded an eight-year contract with a potential value of $50 million to supply communications equipment for U.S. military hospitals and clinics.

The Irvine-based company was part of a multicompany team headed by Science Applications International Corp. of La Jolla that successfully bid for an Army contract valued at $1 billion.

Under the contract, Able Computer will develop local-area networks--communications systems that tie together computers, terminals and other office equipment within a building or area--for 754 military hospitals and clinics worldwide. The purpose of the contract is to standardize the computer systems in military medical facilities: administration, scheduling, laboratory, radiology, pharmacy, nursing order entry and clinical dietetics.