SEMICONDUCTORSDefense Department Should Secure Access to Advanced Semiconductor Technologies

A new, multipronged strategy is needed for the U.S. Department of Defense to secure access to advanced semiconductor technologies, one of the agency’s defining challenges, says a new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. The report analyzes the competitive position of the United States in the global semiconductor ecosystem, from base material supply chains to the necessary expert workforces.

Following passage of the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022, the federal government has embarked on a sweeping effort to promote and protect U.S. leadership in the semiconductor industry and ensure economic and national security. The new report recommends that DOD undertake long-term investments, partnerships, and coordination with the commercial sector, universities, and other parts of government ― building on the interagency work established by the CHIPS and Science Act. DOD should continue to leverage existing public-private partnerships, such as the recently launched Microelectronic Commons initiative, as these partnerships remain a valuable tool for supporting DOD’s semiconductor needs.

DOD uses commercial off-the-shelf semiconductor chips as well as highly specialized, custom-built chips for its systems, including for radars, sensors, high power density electronics, and technology used in extreme environments. The agency played a critical early role in creating the semiconductor industry by funding key innovations and acting as a major customer, and its integration of U.S. microelectronics advances into its communications, deterrence, and weapons systems has led to decades of technical superiority. However, U.S. leadership in semiconductor technology is no longer assured, the report says, and the capabilities of the domestic manufacturing sector have eroded.

“The United States is heavily dependent on other nations for both commercial and defense semiconductor needs, which has created a truly challenging environment for DOD and sometimes frustrated its efforts to be quick and innovative,” said Liesl Folks, chair of the committee that wrote the report, and professor of electrical and computer engineering at the University of Arizona. “There is an urgency now for DOD to modernize, become nimbler, support new advances, more flexibly engage with the microelectronics sector, and reap the resulting cost and technological benefits.”