By James S. B. Chew, Vice President and General Manager, Intel Government Technologies
The future of US defense capability hinges on one defining variable: speed. As geopolitical situations intensify and mission requirements grow more complex, America’s ability to design, test, and deliver advanced microelectronics has become inseparable from its national security posture. Yet today, the US government and defense industrial base (DIB) are constrained by development cycles built for a slower era — frameworks optimized for stability instead of acceleration, acquisition models that reward caution over iteration, and a global supply chain increasingly shaped by foreign dependencies and geopolitical risk.
In my keynote at the Government Microcircuit Applications & Critical Technology (GOMACTech) Conference 2026, I shared how the window between concept and deployed capability must compress dramatically if the US is to maintain deterrence, readiness, and technological superiority. Emerging practices such as hardware-accurate digital twins, universal verification methodologies, and commercial-grade emulation systems are already proving that rapid innovation is both possible and reliable. At the same time, domestic semiconductor manufacturing is re-emerging as a strategic linchpin to enable faster prototyping, resilient supply chains, and trusted US-controlled microelectronics at scale.
Across the government and the semiconductor industry, a fundamental shift is underway. Initiatives such as the Rapid Execution of MicroElectronics Digital Engineering (REMEDE) and the congressionally mandated use of hardware accurate digital twinning (HADT) demonstrate that pairing digital-first engineering with leading-edge US fabrication can transform development timelines and elevate mission outcomes. Intel Foundry’s participation in government programs, including Rapid Assured Microelectronics Prototypes – Commercial (RAMP-C) and others, plays a foundational role in turning advanced semiconductor designs into field-ready hardware by delivering trusted, leading edge physical fabrication and packaging capabilities.
Along with a growing ecosystem of partners, Intel Foundry is helping enable onshore manufacturing acceleration by providing access to cutting-edge manufacturing nodes, robust design infrastructure, advanced packaging technology, and the commercial scale capabilities required to build faster with confidence.
Speed is a Mission Requirement
The slow pace of government and DIB microelectronics development is not the result of a single failure, but of a structurally misaligned ecosystem struggling to keep pace with a fast‑cycling, globally distributed industry. Fragmented authority within the Department of Defense (DoD), limited access to technical data and intellectual property (IP), and poor visibility into cost, performance, and security tradeoffs collectively drive risk aversion and decision latency.
These challenges are compounded by acquisition policies built for episodic upgrades rather than continuous refresh, deep dependence on offshore fabrication and packaging, persistent material shortages, and a constrained domestic workforce. Overlaying all of this is the reality that legacy systems — often undocumented and obsolete — still anchor many defense platforms, making rapid adoption of modern microelectronics difficult. Until governance, incentives, supply chains, and acquisition models are realigned around speed, transparency, and lifecycle resilience, modernization efforts will continue to underperform relative to both commercial innovation cycles and national security needs.
Together, these factors create a system optimized for caution and stability rather than speed and rapid microelectronics innovation. Slowness isn’t neutral — it degrades deterrence and readiness. The question is no longer “Can we go faster?” but “Can we afford not to?”
Domestic Manufacturing is Central to Acceleration
Domestic semiconductor manufacturing accelerates the ability of the government and DIB to design, prototype, test, and deploy advanced microelectronics. This benefits the government and DIB in three essential ways:
Speed enabler: Faster domestic fabrication shortens timelines between design and deployment, removing one of the biggest bottlenecks in bringing upgraded capabilities into fielded systems.
Resilience multiplier: Domestic semiconductor capacity strengthens national resilience by mitigating single point failures in offshore dominated supply chains. Expanding domestic production strengthens the entire upstream supply chain.
Strategic necessity: The DoD lacks full visibility into and control over foreign-made microelectronics, including access to IP, technical data packages, and component provenance — all major security risks. Domestic production ensures a trusted, verified supply for mission-capable systems.
Together, these factors make domestic semiconductor manufacturing not just beneficial, but essential for US national security and the future competitiveness of the DIB.
Government Programs: From Digital Twinning to Fabrication Readiness
REMEDE demonstrates how the government is embracing digital engineering to innovate faster and smarter in design, while Intel Foundry delivers the downstream support required to turn validated designs into silicon. Through initiatives such as RAMP-C, State-of-the-Art Heterogeneous Integrated Packaging (SHIP), and the Secure Enclave program, Intel Foundry enables DoD and commercial customers to manufacture prototype integrated circuits (ICs) on a domestic leading-edge node like Intel 18A, along with heterogeneous integration and chiplet-based architectures, within secure and compliant manufacturing.
At the front end of this lifecycle, REMEDE shows how digital engineering is transforming the way DIB semiconductor systems are conceived and validated. Managed by Nimbis Services for the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) DoD Supercomputing Resource Center, REMEDE’s use of digital twinning, emulation, and hardware-accurate virtual models allows engineers to evaluate performance, identify risk, and optimize designs long before fabrication begins. This “digital first” approach mirrors best practices used by leading commercial technology companies, enabling faster iteration cycles and higher confidence designs for complex systems.
Through RAMP-C, Intel Foundry has successfully onboarded several DIB customers, including Boeing, Northrop Grumman, Trusted Semiconductor Solutions (TSS), Reliable MicroSystems, and others, demonstrating solid headway in developing early prototypes. This progress showcases the readiness of Intel 18A process technology, IP, and ecosystem solutions for high-volume defense manufacturing. Intel Foundry’s technology roadmap translates directly into competitive advantage, resilience, and mission impact. The result is a more agile, secure, and globally competitive DIB — capable of moving faster from design to deployment while sustaining long‑term technology leadership.
By aligning digital first design programs with Intel Foundry’s end-to-end semiconductor enablement, the government is building a repeatable model that accelerates delivery, reduces risk, and ensures mission-ready microelectronics from concept to deployment.
Going Faster Requires Strong Domestic Partnerships
Now is the time for industry leaders, policymakers, and defense stakeholders to rethink how defense technology is developed and delivered. Serving the mission means providing relevant capability at the speed it’s needed, which cannot be achieved through incremental change alone. Success requires earlier convergence between design, manufacturing, and transition, with the government incentivizing speed, stabilizing requirements sooner, and treating production readiness as a first-order concern rather than a downstream hurdle.
When the government and semiconductor industry align around speed, integration, and accountability, the result is a stronger DIB — one capable of delivering trusted, operational-ready capability at the pace required to maintain strategic advantage.
Learn more about Intel Foundry’s technical contributions at GOMACTech 2026. Read our platform brief to dive deeper into how Intel Foundry can help modernize mission-critical designs. Ready to accelerate your defense manufacturing? Reach out to us at intel.com/foundry and foundry.contact@intel.com.
