BAE Systems to deliver advanced microelectronics to U.S. defense industrial base

Award part of the National Security Technology Accelerator’s STEAM PIPE project

July 22, 2024 -- The Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Research & Engineering’s Trusted & Assured Microelectronics program through Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC) Crane Division’s Strategic & Spectrum Missions Advanced Resilient Trusted Systems (S2MARTS) Other Transaction Agreement (OTA) vehicle has awarded BAE Systems’ FAST Labs Research and Development organization a $22 million contract. The contract will support the Strategic Transition of Microelectronics to Accelerate Modernization by Prototyping and Innovating in the Packaging Ecosystem (STEAM PIPE) project and will be managed by National Security Technology Accelerator (NSTXL).

Microelectronics play a critical role in furthering the Department of Defense’s warfighting capabilities. BAE Systems’ work under the STEAM PIPE project will result in the development and delivery of advanced chiplet prototypes that will transition into military systems. The technology will be made available to the entire U.S. defense industrial base. 

“The highly specialized chiplets are small, modular pieces that can be combined to form a larger, more complex system-on-a-chip,” said Wes Allen, director of Microelectronics at BAE Systems’ FAST Labs. "This is the beginning of a new chiplet ecosystem that could result in breakthroughs like enabling smaller form factor electronic warfare technology on new platforms."

Work on the project, which builds on the technology advances of recent programs and follows a recently announced delivery milestone on the State-of-the-Art Heterogeneous Integrated Packaging (SHIP) program, includes collaboration with subcontractors Extoll GmbH and Comcores ApS.