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MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., -- SGI and General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems, a unit of General Dynamics, are working together to produce the U.S. Navy's Area Air Defense Commander (AADC) Capability system powered by SGI(R) computing and visualization technology to better enable U.S. forces to conduct forward-deployed operations and homeland defense. A multimillion-dollar purchase order booked in the December quarter by General Dynamics for the AADC program includes a 32-processor SGI(R) Origin(R) 3400 server, three SGI(R) Onyx(R) 3000 series high-performance graphics systems, five Silicon Graphics(R) Octane2(TM) visualization workstations and a Silicon Graphics(R) O2+(TM) graphics workstation. The sudden nature of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and the continually changing events in America's war on terrorism have substantiated the need to rapidly deploy an air defense planning and operational support system that not only can respond to changing conditions but also can quickly anticipate possible scenarios and develop plans of action. AADC provides an integrated air defense picture so that military commanders can quickly gather data on air and missile attacks as well as develop air defense plans that recommend theater-level placement of air defense assets from land and sea. AADC ingests, stores and assimilates information from radars and data links into an easily understood graphic representation, so that airborne aircraft and missiles in a theater-wide area are represented by realistic three-dimensional depictions instead of less coherent symbols, recording vital information such as heading, air speed, altitude, and whether aircraft are friendly, enemy or neutral. "Although previous systems provided military planners with slices of data, the capability to view an entire theater's air defense picture and coordinate operations in near real time did not exist prior to AADC," said Bill Evans, AADC program manager, General Dynamics Advanced Technology Systems. "This revolutionary warfighting capability will better enable U.S. forces to conduct forward-deployed operations and homeland defense." Unlike other systems, AADC displays airborne objects as they really are. The use of visual representations greatly enhances situational awareness, an especially critical factor during an engagement, when participants are under extraordinary stress and time constraints. Realistic, color-coded icons are universally recognizable, allowing for a rapid grasp of the operational situation. Using large-screen displays, planes look like planes, and friendly aircraft can easily be distinguished from the enemy. AADC has been installed and fielded aboard Navy command-and-control ships USS Blue Ridge and USS Mount Whitney, as well as the Aegis cruiser USS Shiloh. The Navy has identified 17 other sites for AADC installations including other command-and-control ships, Aegis-class cruisers and land-based facilities.