SecureFoundry
Radar/EW
Onshoring legacy semiconductors: Addressing the supply chain - Story
September 04, 2025The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) relies on legacy semiconductor components to maintain critical defense systems, including radar, missile guidance, and communication equipment. However, many of these low-value parts, originally designed decades ago, are no longer produced domestically, with manufacturing shifted to foreign suppliers. This dependency introduces risks, including supply-chain disruptions and intellectual property vulnerabilities. Addressing these shortfalls requires collaboration with the DoD to reverse-engineer these components, recover technical data, and establish an entirely domestic supply chain. Technical processes and innovations – including data-recovery methodologies and the application of multi-electron beam direct write (MEBDW) lithography – can have positive implications for U.S. military embedded electronics.
