BAE Systems has been awarded a contract from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to develop the next generation of mixed-signal electronics.
The firm say that these could enable new defence applications including high capacity, robust communications, radars, and precision sensors, and lead to solutions that enhance situational awareness and survivability.
According to a news release:
“Recognizing that the DoD has performance demands that far exceed the capabilities of the commercial world in terms of speed, fidelity, capacity, and precision, DARPA created the Technologies for Mixed mode Ultra Scaled Integrated Circuits (T-MUSIC) program to enable disruptive radio frequency (RF) mixed-mode technologies by developing high performance RF analog electronics integrated with advanced digital electronics on the same wafer.
The next-generation capabilities that could be made possible with this program include a combination of wide spectral coverage, high resolution, large dynamic range, and high information processing bandwidth. These capabilities, which can cut through the electronic signal clutter, provide leap-forward performance that is mission critical as services rely on electronic sensors in highly congested environments. The new developments could be integrated into electronic warfare, communications, precision munitions, and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance platforms.”
“T-MUSIC will incorporate analog and digital signals on a single chip for high-performance data converters and digital processing and intelligence,” said Chris Rappa, product line director for Radio Frequency, Electronic Warfare, and Advanced Electronics at BAE Systems’ FAST Labs.
“The advanced electronics we are developing under the T-MUSIC program could create the foundation for greatly enhanced Department of Defense capabilities in advanced RF sensors and high capacity communications.”
Make them in the US or UK, but do not farm out their production to China.
TL;DR I think there’s a reasonable chance of this stuff getting manufactured in the USA but I think the UK is far, far less likely.
I agree with the general sentiment to see production facilities for this in the west. From reading the article it does sound like this is a novel semiconductor manufacturing process though so a new semiconductor fabrication plant (typically called a “fab” for short) specific to the new process is likely to be needed. That means it’s not a case of saying to some supplier “build this in one of your existing factories (fabs)” but rather “where do we build the new production facility (fab) to manufacture this new stuff?”. That does give a pretty good chance that a western location might be chosen but there cost comes into play which I suspect would push it towards the USA rather than the UK especially with DARPA money funding the research.
Big fabs for sophisticated processes are stunning expensive to build. It would be very likely to be in the billions of dollars to build the fab with the really high end cutting-edge-process and very-high-volume fabs costing $20bn or thereabouts in today’s money. Hopefully it wouldn’t be at the high end of that range, that’s more for the people turning out the latest central CPU/etc chips for mobile phones & tablets in massive volumes, but it’s quite possible they might be looking at aircraft carrier (QEC) types of money to build the fab.
Under ITAR rules it will not go anywhere else but the US. Such work that involves component parts for EW, radio, military application/ dual use electronics are covered.
It’s a boring read but the items covered in the Munitions Register for ITAR and the dual use EAR lists are frightening. Anything and everything that has a potential military use or could affect US Military supremacy is covered. (It actually reads like a huge protectionist racket to ensure only US sourced material is used by US Forces.)
Some of the more obscure items covered under ITAR and EAR are life jackets and horses… Both are dual use military/civilian. .
This puff piece reads like it was written by a jargon generator.
Which causes mistakes like this: “Riddle me this Batman”, what is wrong with this blue passport from an news piece on passport changes…?
https://www.sott.net/image/s27/554358/full/5e2ad9f685f5406676192f15.jpg
Cheers!
Evil he who evil thinks.