Pentagon eyes spending billions to buy customized semiconductors for critical weapons like the B-2 bomber

Nov. 17, 2021
The $885 million was the only Pentagon-related exception that the White House budget office asked Congress to approve in its stopgap spending measure.

WASHINGTON – The Pentagon plans to place as much as $2 billion in rush orders by early next year for customized semiconductors used in critical weapons such as the B-2 bomber before the production line for them is shut down. Stars and Stripes reports. Continue reading original article

The Military & Aerospace Electronics take:

17 Nov. 2021-- GlobalFoundries has sold the factory in Fishkill, N.Y., that produces the customized chips used in GPS-dependent systems, and the new owner won’t be making them.

The U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) is confronting its looming supply crunch amid a global shortage of the chips used in consumer items from mobile phones to autonomous vehicles, markets where GlobalFoundries is expanding its production.

Under a stopgap spending bill passed by Congress, an initial $885 million in orders would be placed by 15 Dec. with U.S. contractors who depend on the semiconductors so that they can contract a substantial share of the total with GlobalFoundries.

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John Keller, chief editor
Military & Aerospace Electronics

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