John W Lyons

The Use of High Performance Computing (Hpc) to Stengthen the Developing of Army Systems John W Lyons

Publisher Marketing: The long, drawn- out and expensive acquisition process in the military is a serious problem at any time, but especially so in these times of tight and declining budgets. Many times the Department of Defense (DOD) has been criticized for the manner by which it procures new weapons systems. Recent articles in the Washington Post1,2 and Defense News 3 review the Army acquisition process, presenting an analysis of some $38 billion spent on system s that were terminated for high costs and lengthy development times. Two cases in point that f ailed: the Crusader artillery system which foundered, in part, on the failure of a new propellant system, high costs, and a too-long development cycle, and the Comanche stealth helicopter, again terminated because of cost overrun s and slippage of schedules. The available funding for the Comanche was redirected into buying and upgrading existing helicopter program s where the procurement risks were reduced. A question is how much of this problem is due to technical inefficiencies, and how much is due to other factors such as the requirements process, Defense acquisitions regulations, and the complexity of the lengthy budgeting process or changes in the governing political system . We seek to show how one factor, the expanded use of high performance computing, can contribute to improving the design and production of weapons systems. This would contribute to a more responsive, more economical acquisition process. Contributor Bio:  Lyons, John W John W. Lyons is a Distinguished Research Fellow at the Center for Technology and National Security Policy (CTNSP), National Defense University. He was previously director of the Army Research Laboratory and director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology. Dr. Lyons received his PhD from Washington University. He holds a BA from Harvard. Richard Chait is a Distinguished Research Fellow at CTNSP. He was previously Chief Scientist, Army Material Command, and Director, Army Research and Laboratory Management. Dr. Chait received his PhD in Solid State Science from Syracuse University and a BS degree from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. James J. Valdes is a Senior Research Fellow at the National Defense University's Center for Technology and National Security Policy and the Army's Scientific Advisor for Biotechnology. Dr. Valdes received a PhD in neuroscience from Texas Christian University and was a postdoctoral fellow at the Johns Hopkins Medical Institutes. He has published more than 120 papers in scientific journals and was a 2009 Presidential Rank Award winner.