The U.S. Department of Defense will increase investment in microelectronics over the next five years, peaking in 2024
Public information indicates that the US Department of Defense will make significant and sustained investments in three areas:Trusted Microelectronics. Designed to ensure that the Department of Defense has access to secure, cutting-edge dual-use microelectronics on a commercial scale. While investment in this segment remains high, it is expected to decline over time.The goal of this segment is to ensure that the Department of Defense has secure access to state-of-the-art commercial microelectronics by working with U.S. foundries. These partnerships will be formed primarily through the Trusted Foundry program.
Customize reliable devices. It will continue to invest in research and development of new custom and reliable devices such as logic and memory for defense-specific operating environments.More than $900 million will be allocated to defense-specific requirements not covered by commercial products. More than $450 million is spent on new devices, such as programmable logic (PLAID) for defense applications, as well as processing and transistor designs, such as ferroelectric computing. The slightly lower level of funding for custom radio frequency (RF) R&D reflects the maturity of gallium nitride (GaN) technology. Emerging funding for next-generation ultra-wide bandgap (UWBG) materials powering next-generation communications, sensors, and non-dynamic effects is still relatively small.Packaging and integration technology. Creating the infrastructure for the packaging and integration ecosystem will help the Department of Defense develop the capabilities needed to integrate custom and dual-use electronics in the United States.The U.S. Department of Defense has allocated approximately $560 million for custom and dual-use packaging and integration technologies. The focus is on integrating traditional silicon logic with novel RF, photonics, or compound semiconductors—known as three-dimensional heterogeneous integration (3DHI).
Customize reliable devices. It will continue to invest in research and development of new custom and reliable devices such as logic and memory for defense-specific operating environments.More than $900 million will be allocated to defense-specific requirements not covered by commercial products. More than $450 million is spent on new devices, such as programmable logic (PLAID) for defense applications, as well as processing and transistor designs, such as ferroelectric computing. The slightly lower level of funding for custom radio frequency (RF) R&D reflects the maturity of gallium nitride (GaN) technology. Emerging funding for next-generation ultra-wide bandgap (UWBG) materials powering next-generation communications, sensors, and non-dynamic effects is still relatively small.Packaging and integration technology. Creating the infrastructure for the packaging and integration ecosystem will help the Department of Defense develop the capabilities needed to integrate custom and dual-use electronics in the United States.The U.S. Department of Defense has allocated approximately $560 million for custom and dual-use packaging and integration technologies. The focus is on integrating traditional silicon logic with novel RF, photonics, or compound semiconductors—known as three-dimensional heterogeneous integration (3DHI).
