Battleland's calculator.
That’s the total number of digits that Battleland’s tried and true Texas Instruments’ TI-1795+ calculator can display.
We bought it nearly 20 years ago, and have used it nearly every day to keep track of Pentagon numbers. Not only was it manufactured by the original maker of AGM-88 HARM — High-speed Anti-Radiation — Missiles, it was solar-powered, to boot. (Raytheon later bought TI’s defense business.)
But recently – when calculating $4 trillion in war costs, or a $434 million Global Hawk support contract – it has come up short.
It simply lacks a display screen big enough for such big numbers.
We’re not sure what this means, but it probably isn’t good.