Army Taps BAE to Help Boost Domestic Microelectronics Supply Under $60M Deal

BAE Systems has received a $60 million contract from the U.S Army for a new radiation-hardened microelectronics design library meant to expand the domestic technology supply chain of the aerospace and defense industry.

The company said Wednesday its FAST Labs research and development organization will work with Intel‘s commercial foundry on the development of various types of microelectronics that could introduce more ways to produce application specific integrated circuits.

According to the contractor, work under the Army Cornerstone other transaction authority could result in the deployment of more advanced process nodes for ASIC development and increased chip functionality and processing in small areas at low power.

“Leveraging Intel’s commercial foundry to manufacture this technology can speed up the production of next-generation technology and help resolve supply chain challenges so we can maintain our country’s technological edge,” said Chris Rappa, director of FAST Labs.

The contract is aimed at addressing current difficulties in delivering microelectronics to customers in time because of the limited amount of materials available in the U.S.