The Department of Defense announced the award of two contracts totaling $49 million to revitalize advanced packaging capabilities and capacity for semiconductors used in defense applications. The awards were made through the Industrial Base Analysis and Sustainment (IBAS) program to Micross Components and the government of Osceola County, Florida.
“Revitalizing a semiconductor advanced packaging manufacturing ecosystem in the U.S. is critical to enabling the Department’s weapon system development and manufacturing partners across industry to support our warfighters,” said Dr. Laura Taylor-Kale, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Industrial Base Policy. “It will also enable lower volume manufacturing commercial markets across the U.S. to advance their products and to assist in sustaining these critical manufacturing capabilities.”
These awards, which focus on low-volume/high-mix production of secure 2.5 and/or 3D advanced packaging solutions, include options for further expanding the advanced packaging ecosystem and associated technologies. They are part of DOD’s Re-shore Ecosystem for Secure Heterogeneous Advanced Packaged Electronics (RESHAPE) efforts, and directly support the National Defense Industrial Strategy‘s strategic priority of building resilient supply chains.
RESHAPE is an advanced packaging manufacturing capability initiative to revitalize a critical packaging manufacturing ecosystem in the U.S. for use across the defense industrial base (DIB) and commercial markets. The effort focuses on multi-supplier “back-end-of-line” processes for 300mm wafer diameter capabilities. It is aimed at pure play, low-volume, high-mix, and secure manufacturing capabilities that all DIB-supporting companies can design into for their next generation applications. This ensures access and availability to a U.S. microelectronics ecosystem that enables a secure, comprehensive component, and reliable system integration.
In 2023, the Innovation Capability and Modernization (ICAM) office, which manages the IBAS program, made awards totaling nearly $700 million. ICAM is part of the ASD(IBP)’s Manufacturing Capability Expansion and Investment Prioritization (MCEIP) directorate, in the Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Industrial Base Resilience. For more information on MCEIP, please visit: https://www.businessdefense.gov/ibr/mceip/index.html