The 1962 Arma Micro Computer, a 20-pound transistorized aerospace machine, predates common microcomputer candidates by over a decade using transfluxor NDRO memory and serial 22-bit architecture.
Key Takeaways
Built by Arma Engineering for space navigation, the machine fit in 0.4 cubic feet, smaller than an Apple II, and survived 100g shock and 100% humidity.
Its serial 1-bit ALU and 22-bit word size traded speed (36,000 ops/sec at 1 MHz) for minimal hardware, a common early tradeoff.
Transfluxors (two-aperture ferrite cores) enabled non-destructive readout, preventing program corruption during instruction fetch, unlike standard core memory.
Arma engineer Wen Tsing Chow invented the PROM, using burned diode matrices to store missile targeting constants, origin of the phrase “burning the PROM”.
The platform evolved into systems used on Navy submarines, the E-2C Hawkeye, the Concorde, and Air Force One.
