News: Microelectronics
22 August 2025
BAE Systems boosts chip production for mission-critical defense programs using US CHIPS Act funding
BAE Systems Inc (which develops and services electric propulsion technology at its facilities in Endicott, NY, USA and Rochester, UK) says that its investment to modernize its Microelectronics Center (MEC) in Nashua, New Hampshire, supported in part by the US CHIPS Act, will purchase new, more efficient manufacturing tools to significantly increase production capacity, speed delivery, and reduce costs for Department of Defense chip production for the US Air Force, Army, Navy, and Marines. The modernization is expected to unlock major efficiencies in US defense production.
BAE Systems’ MEC is a 110,000ft2, Department of Defense (DoD)-accredited chip fabrication and foundry facility that produces technology for DoD applications. It develops semiconductor technologies beyond those available commercially to meet demanding military requirements and is one of few domestic defense-centric 6-inch gallium arsenide (GaAs) and gallium nitride (GaN) high-electron-mobility transistor (HEMT) wafer foundries.
The modernization of the MEC is regarded as a vital investment in US national security and will support mission-critical DoD and aerospace programs — from next-generation aircraft and satellites to secure communications. BAE Systems’ investment will also create skilled manufacturing jobs.
US CHIPS Incentives Program awards finalized for BAE Systems and Rocket Lab
First US CHIPS and Science Act funding to modernize BAE Systems’ Microelectronics Center
