29 juin 2018 | International, C4ISR
By: Daniel Cebul
When the Senate Appropriations subcommittee on defense released a summary of their spending priorities June 26, the bill included a significant increase for one emerging technology.
The panel recommended setting aside an additional $447 million for microelectronics. Specifically, the committee wanted to ensure the Department of Defense has access to trusted microelectronics and can develop manufacturing processes for next-generation microprocessor chips. To do so, the bill raised the fiscal year 2019 research, development, testing and evaluation budget for microelectronic technology from $169 million in the president's fiscal year 2019 budget request to $616 million.
Already, concern about the domestic production of microelectronics is expected to be part of a large defense industrial base review now underway.
But what exactly are microelectronics, and why is their development worth so much to DoD?
Microelectronic chips are essentially integrated electric circuits that regulate energy consumption, and perform complex computations that enable capabilities like global positioning systems, radar and command and control. Imagine all of the components that go into your computer ― memory, graphics processors, wifi modules, etc ― all on a single silicon chip, called a wafer.
eading-edge wafers typically are 300 mm in diameter and loaded with transistors, resistors, insulators and conductors that control the flow of electrons (read electrical energy) across the chip. The smaller and smaller these components are, specifically transistors, the more can be fit on a chip, enabling faster and more efficient processing.
Transistors themselves are measured in nanometers (nm), and are unfathomably small to most non-scientists and engineers. One nanometer equates to a billionth of meter! To put that into perspective, the average diameter of a human hair is 75,000 nm.
The most cutting-edge transistors used in microelectronics measure between 10 and 7 nm, and are expected to get smaller in coming years.
Smaller and smaller transistors will contribute to breakthroughs in “machine learning, data sorting for recognition of events, and countering electromagnetic threats,” according to a Defense Advance Research Project Agency backgrounder.
Because Pentagon leaders believe this technology is vital for current and future capabilities, technology officials say it is important DoD can trust microelectronics are reliable and secure from adversary attacks and sabotage.
For this reason, DARPA launched the five-year, up to $200 million Electronics Resurgence Initiative in September 2017 “to nurture research in advanced new materials, circuit design tools, and system architectures.” A key thrust of this initiative is partnership with top universities through the Joint University Microelectronics Program, or JUMP. The program enlists top researchers to work on proejcts like cognitive computing, secure cellular infrastructure to support autonomous vehicles and intelligent highways and other technologies enabled by microelectronics.
Under the Senate defense subcommittee's markup, ERI received an additional $30 million to help “reestablish U.S. primacy in assured microelectronics technology.”
26 août 2021 | International, Aérospatial
New upgrades are afoot for the Command Control Battle Management and Communications system linking missile defense capability globally.
10 octobre 2018 | International, Terrestre
By: Jen Judson WASHINGTON — The Army's future tank may not be a tank, Brig. Gen. Ross Coffman, who is in charge of combat vehicle modernization, told Defense News in an interview at the Association of the U.S. Army's annual show. While the M1 Abrams tank still has life in it yet, the Army is starting to begin the thinking and planning process for a future tank, “which is really exciting because it might not be a tank,” Coffman said. “It is decisive lethality and what that decisive lethality is will be determined by academia, our science and technology community within the Army and industry.” The Army will choose a path in 2023 on how it plans to replace the Abrams and some of the ideas cropping up in discussions have been “everything from a ray gun to a Star Wars-like four-legged creature that shoots lasers,” Coffman said, “but the reality is that everything is on the table. “We have to get away from these paradigms that we created that decisive lethality must come from a tank,” Coffman said. “It may be a tank in the end and that would be great, but we need choices for our soldiers, so we can really move into a position of lethal advantage over the enemy.” Coffman is spearheading that effort along with some more near-term plans to replace the Bradley Fighting Vehicle with an Optionally Manned Fighting Vehicle and bring online the Army's Armored Multi-Purpose Vehicle (AMPV) and a light tank called the Mobile Protected Firepower (MPF) system. The one-star is in charge of the Next-Generation Combat Vehicle Cross-Functional Team housed under the Army Futures Command tasked to modernize the force. Full article: https://www.defensenews.com/digital-show-dailies/ausa/2018/10/09/the-armys-future-tank-may-not-be-a-tank
18 août 2020 | International, Terrestre
By Sudhi Ranjan Sen 16 août 2020 à 18:00 UTC−4 Updated on 17 août 2020 à 04:58 UTC−4 India's move to ban the import of certain weapon systems will do little to boost local manufacturing and is sowing uncertainty at a time when the South Asian nation is trying to ramp up defenses on its restive borders with China and Pakistan, according to analysts. Prime Minister Narendra Modi's administration earlier this month announced curbs on $47 billion worth of imports that include communication satellites, conventional submarines and light machine guns. But defense experts said they didn't address critical issues such as the certification of systems and locally-made components, and won't prevent the military from making emergency purchases of equipment from foreign vendors. Modi has struggled to transform the world's second biggest arms importer into a defense manufacturing powerhouse since a 2014 proposal to produce indigenous equipment and systems worth $100 billion by 2020. The target has since been slashed in half and the deadline extended to 2027, while the need for more advanced weaponry grows more urgent following the most deadly border clash with China in four decades. Modi Backtracks on Free-Trade Vow With Import Curbs in India The ministry's ban on imports will have little impact beyond “measures already taken to localize defense production and reduce import dependency,” said Amit Cowshish, a consultant with the New Delhi-based Manohar Parrikar Institute For Defence Studies and Analyses and a former financial adviser on acquisitions in the Ministry of Defense. “The promotion of local manufacturing requires more cooperation between the military and domestic defense industry,” Cowshish said. “Mutual trust is missing, with everyone working at cross purposes.” While New Delhi is the world's third-biggest military spender, its air force, navy and the army are still equipped with weapons that are largely obsolete. ‘Self-Reliance Push' The push for locally-produced systems and hardware was a big step toward self-reliance in defense and creates an opportunity for the Indian defense industry to manufacture the items using their own design and development capabilities, the Ministry of Defense said in a statement on Aug. 9. A defense ministry spokesperson was not immediately available for a comment. Similar policy declarations to stem imports were made by India in 2013, under then prime minister Manmohan Singh, and also by Modi's administration in his first term in 2018, didn't significantly increase the ‘Made in India' products deployed by the military. “Time and access to technology is fundamental to such efforts -- currently a large proportion India's defense industry is little better than system integrators,” said Rahul Bedi, a New Delhi-based independent defense analyst. “A major dose of realism is needed.” The banned list is also vague on the position of joint-ventures between Indian and foreign manufacturers and license produced weapon systems, he said. Despite its drawbacks, India's nascent defense industry is cautiously optimistic about the new policy. “We are sure that this list will keep getting amended to add newer programs that lay a road map matching our nation's aspiration,” said Jayant Patil, senior executive vice president (defence & smart technologies), Larsen & Toubro Limited. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-08-16/india-s-tense-borders-threaten-plan-to-ban-some-weapons-imports