Biden administration chooses military supplier BAE Systems for first CHIPS Act grant
BAE Systems, a defence contractor, will receive the first federal grant from a new program aimed at shoring up American manufacturing of critical semiconductors.
The company is expected to receive a $35 million grant to quadruple its domestic production of a type of chip used in F-15 and F-35 fighter jets, as well as satellites and other defense systems. The grant is intended to help ensure a more secure supply of a component that is critical for the United States and its allies.
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Offering CollegeCourseWebsiteIIT DelhiIITD Certificate Programme in Data Science & Machine LearningVisitIndian School of BusinessISB Digital TransformationVisitIIM KozhikodeIIMK Senior Management ProgrammeVisit The award is the first of several expected in the coming months, as the Commerce Department begins distributing the $39 billion in federal funding that Congress authorised under the 2022 CHIPS and Science Act. The money is intended to incentivise the construction of chip factories in the United States and lure back a key type of manufacturing that has slipped offshore in recent decades.
The decision to select for the first award a defence contractor, rather than a commercial semiconductor facility, was meant to emphasise the administration's focus on national security, officials said.
At an event at BAE Systems in Nashua, New Hampshire, commerce secretary Gina Raimondo said the United States had become «dangerously reliant» on a few countries in Asia for its chips, including technology that goes into military systems. Posters showing a pilotless drone, fighter pilots and a jet engine were displayed behind her.
«In order to defend our great country, we need to make the chips that
