News: Microelectronics
11 December 2023
First US CHIPS and Science Act funding to modernize BAE Systems’ Microelectronics Center
The US Department of Commerce has announced about $35m in initial funding for BAE Systems ─ which develops and services electric propulsion technology at its facilities in Endicott, NY, USA and Rochester, UK ─ to modernize its Microelectronics Center (MEC) in Nashua, New Hampshire. This is the first funding announcement as part of the CHIPS and Science Act, which was designed to strengthen the USA’s manufacturing, supply chains and national security. Modernizing BAE Systems’ microelectronics center helps to support this vision and the continued development and manufacturing of cutting-edge technology to serve customers’ missions.
BAE Systems’ MEC is a 110,000ft2 Department of Defense (DoD)-accredited chip fabrication and foundry facility that produces technology for DoD applications, developing semiconductor technologies beyond those available commercially to meet demanding military requirements. It is one of few domestic defense-centric six-inch gallium arsenide (GaAs) and gallium nitride (GaN) high-electron-mobility transistor (HEMT) wafer foundries.
“Microelectronics are at the heart of the technology and products we make for our defense and aerospace customers — from next-generation aircraft and satellites to military-grade GPS and secure communications,” says BAE Systems Inc’s president & CEO Tom Arseneault. “This funding will help modernize our Microelectronics Center and fulfill the promise of the CHIPS and Science Act by increasing our capacity to serve national defense programs, growing our technical workforce, and helping to strengthen the nation's onshore supply chain. This initiative is the result of a strong partnership with federal, state and local government,” he adds.
“The CHIPS for America Program is about advancing our national security and strengthening domestic supply chains, all while creating good jobs supporting long-term US economic growth. As national security becomes as much about the chips inside of our weapons systems as the weapons systems themselves, this first CHIPS announcement shows how central semiconductors are to our national defense,” says US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo. “Thanks to President Biden’s Investing in America Agenda, we have reached preliminary terms to make a substantial investment in New Hampshire’s expanding defense industrial base, which will help make our country and supply chains more secure and bolster the economy of the Granite State,” she adds.
Local and state commitments contributed to the funding application. As a result, both the state of New Hampshire and the City of Nashua are offering workforce incentives through Nashua Community College (NCC). The state of New Hampshire will provide tuition assistance for NCC’s microelectronics bootcamp and the Nashua City Council is providing funds to establish a new cleanroom training course at NCC.
The new funding will “ensure our military continues to have access to American-made semiconductor technology,” says US Senator Jeanne Shaheen, chair of the US Senate Appropriations Subcommittee that funds the Department of Commerce. “These modernization efforts will strengthen New Hampshire’s integral role in the nation’s defense manufacturing industry for years to come,” she adds.
The approximately $35m in funding will be coupled with ongoing investment in modernization and R&D by BAE Systems. The funding will help to purchase new, more efficient manufacturing tools to mitigate supply chain risk, increase production capacity, and reduce time-to-build product. The increased efficiency will enable a scale-up in production to meet increasing demand for DoD technology and provide critical microelectronics to non-defense industries including satellite communications, and test & measurement equipment markets.
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