I remember the days when it was a point of national pride to own a Cray supercomputer.
In the 1980s, India tried to get access to a Cray XMP-24, but was denied access due to dual use capabilities. Instead, they were only allowed to purchase the lesser capable XMP-14.
The purchase came with the stipulation of having to host US personnel onsite to monitor the usage of the supercomputer.
This denial/control of access also led to the birth of India's own supercomputer efforts by CDAC.
Many developments in India's space, nuclear and computing efforts mainly happened due to denial of technology such as Cryogenic engines, supercomputers etc.
Recommended reading for all Cray fans <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Supermen-Seymour-Technical-Wizards-Supercomputer/dp/0471048852/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1449850907&sr=8-1&keywords=seymour+cray" rel="nofollow">http://www.amazon.com/Supermen-Seymour-Technical-Wizards-Sup...</a>
Growing up in the 80s, the Cray 2 was my poster computer. Until the day came when I realized it was only 800MHz and had 4GB RAM, and my phone was faster than that.
One thing that strikes me about Cray's designs is that they look so extraordinarily cool, but the look of the machines is - according to Wikipedia - often the result of technical/engineering requirements/decisions. They were led by technical priorities almost exclusively, yet they came out not only the fastest computers on earth (at the time), they also looked ... awesome.