‘Star Wars’ R&D; Creates Ultra-Fast, Tiny Computer

Researchers at Rockwell International and Texas Instruments working on the “Star Wars” defense program have developed ultra-high-speed computers the size of a deck of cards that they say could have far-reaching commercial applications.

Besides representing an important advance in Star Wars research, the small machines--about 500 times faster than the average personal computer--could spark a new generation of small but powerful computers for consumers, industry watchers said Wednesday.

Star Wars critics, however, said the breakthrough does not justify the multibillion-dollar program, formally known as the Strategic Defense Initiative, and the potential commercial applications are not justification enough for continuing spending on the program.

Administration funding requests for the controversial SDI program have grown from $1 billion in fiscal 1984 to $4.6 billion in 1990, but Congress has shown an increasing willingness to shave the SDI budget and divert funds to more popular programs.

Rockwell’s Autonetics Sensors & Aircraft Systems division in Anaheim and Texas Instruments, based in Dallas, designed different versions of the computer under an Air Force contract. A commercial version could be available to consumers in several years, Air Force officials said.

“These designs will one day make every home computer in the country outdated,” said John Provine, chief of the guided interceptor technology branch of the Air Force Armament Laboratory at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla. “I can see a day when, if a person buys a home computer, it will be either very compact or have nothing but an empty box for looks.”

The so-called floating-point computers were designed for a Star Wars program with the aim of developing a processor to track flying objects against the Earth’s background and identifying them either as decoys or enemy missiles.

To fulfill its mission, the computers must be small enough to fit inside a space-based satellite and fast enough to track thousands of missiles simultaneously and direct a weapon to destroy them.

“This is the heart of the SDI system,” said Provine. “It’s clear evidence the space-based interceptor isn’t just pie-in-the sky.”

The Rockwell and TI computers are part of a proposed $17.7-billion strategic defense system known as a space-based interceptor, which would house missile-killers in 200 satellite platforms, said Baker Spring, a defense analyst at the Heritage Foundation, a Washington-based think tank known for its pro-Star Wars stance. Rockwell and Martin Marietta Corp. are the prime contractors on the project.

Gary Chapman, an SDI critic and executive director of Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility in Palo Alto, said the Rockwell-Texas Instruments computer is by no means a major technical breakthrough toward developing a space defense system.

“The basic problem of SDI is developing trustworthy software, not building a fast computer,” he said. “There’s not enough information to write adequate software specifications for a nuclear war, and you can’t test the system.”

Dave Bernstein, assistant director of the Stanford Center for International Security and Arms Control, said the computers would likely have commercial applications, but that is no reason to continue developing the Star Wars system.

The Air Force’s Provine said development of the computers cost about $5 million. The project incorporates little in the way of new technology but rather takes existing technology and greatly shrinks it in size.

Provine said the computers developed by Rockwell and Texas Instruments could have vast commercial applications, but he noted that they may never be used in a Star Wars system, even if the costly anti-missile program is eventually built.

In February, the Pentagon’s Strategic Defense Initiative Organization gave priority to a competing system, known as “Brilliant Pebbles,” which is cheaper at $12 billion and would deploy thousands of small missile interceptors more effectively, Spring said.

Meanwhile, Texas Instruments said it is looking into commercial applications for the computer, though the company declines to discuss potential uses. “Much of the development is out of the way,” said Leland Langston, a Texas Instruments project manager, “and we think the first commercial applications could appear within two years.”

Chris Willard, an analyst with Dataquest, a San Jose market research firm, said that because of the computer’s speed and small size, it could find applications in specialized areas such as robotics. He said he doubts the computers would find a use as general-purpose machines.

“It depends a lot on the price and the ultimate system,” he said. “The memory would have to be more developed in commercial applications. It could have applications in industrial controls, robotics and sensors, but for general-computing purposes it would require modifications.”

Provine said he envisioned the computers being used in applications such as Star Trek-style communicators or in robots.

The Rockwell unit, which employs 1,100 people, designed one version of the computer as part of a 30-month SDI contract awarded in November, 1988, said Tony Longo, spokesman for Rockwell. Longo declined to comment on Rockwell’s participation in the computer’s development.

Each computer weighs 75 grams, or about 2.5 ounces, is 10 centimeters by 1 centimeter and is capable of up to 500 million instructions per second.

“This is the fastest computer ever built in this small a package,” Langston said.

Current state-of-the-art computers in some missiles weigh 500 grams, or 17.5 ounces, with a capacity of 4.5 million instructions per second.