The Department of Defense (DoD) announced on Sept. 16 a $269 million investment to enhance U.S. microelectronics manufacturing capacity and workforce development through the Pentagon’s Microelectronics Commons (ME Commons) initiative.
The funding announced on Tuesday will support 33 new technical projects, spread out across six tech areas. Those include:
- Four projects in quantum, totaling $32 million;
- Four in secure edge computing, totaling $25 million;
- Five in 5G/6G wireless, totaling $42 million;
- Six in electromagnetic warfare, totaling $51 million;
- Seven in commercial leap-ahead, totaling $38 million;
- Seven in artificial intelligence, totaling $42 million; and
- A Cross-Hub Enablement Solution award, totaling $39 million.
This ME Commons initiative, funded by the CHIPS and Science Act approved by Congress in 2022, aims to bolster the nation’s semiconductor capabilities and reduce reliance on foreign sources of microelectronics.
“Microelectronics are critical to our goals of having a more reliable microelectronics supply and to deliver next-generation capabilities for our troops,” Dr. Devanand Shenoy, executive director of the ME Commons and principal director for microelectronics in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering, said in a statement. “These awards will also upskill America’s workforce, thus helping keep America both secure and prosperous.”
Along with the announcement of the new funding, DoD and senior officials from the White House, are embarking on a “roadshow” to visit three of the eight hubs to discuss the ME Commons’ progress to date, highlight specific award recipients, and discuss the research being funded in greater detail.
The roadshow kicked off today at the SWAP Hub in Phoenix, Ariz.
“These CHIPS and Science Act investments through the [ME Commons] will advance innovation for components that enable the most sophisticated defense systems, strengthening our national security,” Arati Prabhakar, the President’s chief advisor for Science and Technology and director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, said in a statement.
The ME Commons, established in 2023 after the DoD received $2 billion in CHIPS and Science Act funding – is a national network of academic institutions, small businesses, and research entities focused on advancing microelectronics technology from the lab to prototyping and scaled production.
In addition to the $269 million investment, the DoD, in partnership with the Commerce Department, recently unveiled a separate $3 billion award to Intel Corporation aimed at enhancing advanced semiconductor production for the U.S. military and strengthening the supply chain for these critical components in the interest of national security. This funding, also provided through the CHIPS and Science Act, is being allocated to the Secure Enclave program, which operates independently of the ME Commons initiative.
