Ross Miller
Imagine a military commander preparing for battle, ready to deploy forces with the intelligence, personnel, and plans in place, only to be stopped not by enemy action, but by equipment. Otherwise mission-capable platforms sit idle because a single uncertified microelectronic component cannot be replaced or trusted.
That scenario is likely, not because of a sudden crisis or battlefield failure, but because the United States remains overwhelmingly dependent on foreign-produced foundational-node semiconductors that are embedded across nearly every defense platform.
Today, U.S. companies account for nearly half of the world’s chip sales, but U.S. semiconductor manufacturing represents only about 12 percent of global capacity. Most semiconductor production still occurs overseas, concentrated in East Asia, including Taiwan and China, which supply the same commercial components embedded across U.S. defense and critical infrastructure systems. This dependence exposes commanders and maintainers to delays, certification bottlenecks, and persistent supply uncertainty long before a crisis emerges. It also aligns Beijing’s deliberate effort to shape industrial capacity, supply chains, and technology ecosystems to build long-term military advantage. Foundational semiconductor manufacturing — particularly high-volume, foundational production — is central to that effort.
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