US resistance to NEC Corp’s SX-3 supercomputer is beginning to crumble. MacNeal-Schwendler Corp, Los Angeles has decided to make the SX-3 much more attractive to international users by doing an implementation of its Nastran computer-aided engineering analysis software for the Super-UX version of Unix that runs on the SX-3. And the National Aeronautics & Space Administration has changed the wording of its request for proposals on a supercomputer for the Ames Research Center so that it is no longer limited to US manufacturers. Ames wants a new machine to replace its Cray Computer Corp Cray-2, but the change in wording, after a protest by NEC, still seems to exclude Fujitsu Ltd and Hitachi Ltd from bidding, says Electronic News, since it insists on a formal US supercomputer operaton staffed by Americans. NEC has HNSX Supercomputers Inc, a former joint venture with Honeywell Inc, based in Burlington, Massachusetts. Eight SX-3s have so far been installed worldwide, and nine are on order. Lease prices and availability for the Super-UX version of Nastran will be announced shortly.
