A new Defence supercomputer almost a decade in the making is now up and running in Adelaide, delivering machine learning and AI capabilities to defence scientists.
Defence declared the high-performance computing (HPC) system, dubbed Taingiwilta, “fully operational” on Friday, ending a long-running project led by Defence Science and Technology Group.
Having recently achieved final operational capability, the HPC is now thought to be one of the 50 most powerful computers in the world.
Taingiwilta, which means ‘powerful’ in the language of the Kaurna people, will allow Defence to analyse large datasets and perform complex scientific and engineering calculations at the Secret security classification level.
It is expected to play a vital role in designing, developing and analysing modern weapons systems and other national security systems, including as part of the AUKUS security pact.
Chief defence scientist Tanya Monro said the “critical, secure and sovereign capability enables Australia’s best minds to tackle some of Defence’s most challenging problems at pace”.
Taingiwilta was first funded in 2018, with up to $300 million made available by the former Coalition government to replace two DSTG-owned Cray and DXC systems facing capacity constraints.
It came after separate funding for a proposed Defence FPC Centre in DST’s Edinburgh Defence Precinct in the northern suburb of Adelaide.
The HPC was first launched at the purpose-built facility called ‘Makarntu’, meaning ‘computer’, in August 2022, with Defence saying it would be “up to a million times faster than a standard computer”.
At the launch, Defence minister Richard Marles remarked that the supercomputer would eventually be “one of the 50 most powerful computers in the world”.
Setonix, a Cray supercomputer housed at the Pawsey Supercomputing Research Centre in Western Australia, is currently Australia’s most powerful supercomputer, ranking 28 on the top 500 list.
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