<s>
The	O
BRLESC	B-Device
I	O
(	O
Ballistic	O
Research	O
Laboratories	O
Electronic	O
Scientific	O
Computer	O
)	O
was	O
one	O
of	O
the	O
last	O
of	O
the	O
first-generation	B-Device
electronic	O
computers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
was	O
built	O
by	O
the	O
United	O
States	O
Army	O
's	O
Ballistic	O
Research	O
Laboratory	O
(	O
BRL	O
)	O
at	O
Aberdeen	O
Proving	O
Ground	O
with	O
assistance	O
from	O
the	O
National	O
Bureau	O
of	O
Standards	O
(	O
now	O
the	O
National	O
Institute	O
of	O
Standards	O
and	O
Technology	O
)	O
,	O
and	O
was	O
designed	O
to	O
take	O
over	O
the	O
computational	O
workload	O
of	O
EDVAC	B-Device
and	O
ORDVAC	B-Device
,	O
which	O
themselves	O
were	O
successors	O
of	O
ENIAC	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
BRLESC	B-Device
was	O
designed	O
primarily	O
for	O
scientific	O
and	O
military	O
tasks	O
requiring	O
high	O
precision	O
and	O
high	O
computational	O
speed	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
ballistics	B-Application
problems	O
,	O
army	O
logistical	O
problems	O
,	O
and	O
weapons	O
systems	O
evaluations	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
contained	O
1727	O
vacuum	O
tubes	O
and	O
853	O
transistors	B-Application
and	O
had	O
a	O
memory	B-General_Concept
of	O
4096	O
72-bit	O
words	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
BRLESC	B-Device
employed	O
punched	B-Architecture
cards	I-Architecture
,	O
magnetic	O
tape	O
,	O
and	O
a	O
magnetic	B-General_Concept
drum	I-General_Concept
as	O
input-output	O
devices	O
,	O
which	O
could	O
be	O
operated	O
simultaneously	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
fixed-point	O
addition	O
took	O
5	O
microseconds	O
,	O
a	O
floating-point	B-Algorithm
addition	O
took	O
5	O
to	O
10	O
microseconds	O
,	O
a	O
multiplication	O
(	O
fixed	O
-	O
or	O
floating-point	B-Algorithm
)	O
took	O
25	O
microseconds	O
,	O
and	O
a	O
division	O
(	O
fixed	O
-	O
or	O
floating-point	B-Algorithm
)	O
took	O
65	O
microseconds	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
(	O
These	O
times	O
are	O
including	O
the	O
memory	B-General_Concept
access	O
time	O
,	O
which	O
was	O
4-5	O
microseconds	O
.	O
)	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
was	O
the	O
fastest	O
computer	O
in	O
the	O
world	O
until	O
the	O
CDC	B-Device
6600	I-Device
was	O
introduced	O
in	O
1964	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
BRLESC	B-Device
and	O
its	O
predecessor	O
,	O
ORDVAC	B-Device
,	O
used	O
their	O
own	O
unique	O
notation	O
for	O
hexadecimal	O
numbers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
BRLESC	B-Device
II	O
,	O
using	O
integrated	O
circuits	O
,	O
became	O
operational	O
in	O
November	O
1967	O
;	O
it	O
was	O
designed	O
to	O
be	O
200	O
times	O
faster	O
than	O
ORDVAC	B-Device
.	O
</s>
