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US Department of Defense partners with Globalfoundries to manufacture secure chips

Jessie Shen, DIGITIMES, Taipei 0

Globalfoundries has announced a strategic partnership with the US Department of Defense (DoD) to provide a secure and reliable supply of semiconductor solutions manufactured at GF's Fab 8 in Malta, New York. These semiconductor chips will be used in some of the DoD's most sensitive applications for land, air, sea and space systems.

Under the agreement, GF will provide a supply of chips built at Fab 8 on its differentiated 45nm SOI platform. The agreement is made possible by Fab 8's compliance with US International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) and highly restrictive Export Control Classification Numbers under the Export Administration Regulations (EAR).

The new supply agreement builds upon the longstanding partnership between the DoD and GF to provide chips for defense, aerospace, and other sensitive applications. GF currently supplies the DoD with chips manufactured at GF's other on-shore facilities, Fab 10 in East Fishkill, New York, and Fab 9 in Burlington, Vermont.

The first chips from this new agreement are targeted to begin delivery in 2023. GF is in ongoing discussions with the DoD regarding Trusted Accreditation for Fab 8.

GF employs nearly 3,000 people at Fab 8, and has invested more than US$13 billion in the facility. The company recently announced a land purchase option to provide additional flexibility to expand Fab 8's footprint to support growing demand from the US government and industry customers. In total, GF employs more than 7,000 people across the US, and over the past 10 years has invested US$15 billion in US semiconductor development.