Big Mistake in New Budget: No Funds to Address a Key Electronics Shortfall

[rangerrebew]

Big Mistake in New Budget: No Funds to Address a Key Electronics Shortfall
PUBLISHED MAY 31, 2024
@ 8:00 AM

By Richard Cappetto and David Schild
These are historic days for the intersection of industrial policy and national security. Across the country,  investments in semiconductor manufacturing spawned by the Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors (CHIPS) and Science Act are creating new factories and thousands of high paying jobs. America’s new commitment to domestic manufacturing should be celebrated, but there is more to be done and budget priorities must align with national security objectives.

Unfortunately, President Biden’s proposed defense budget for fiscal year 2025 eliminates further funding to bridge the shortfall in electronic components needed for semiconductors to function.

A semiconductor by itself provides no utility until it is packaged and mounted on a printed circuit board (PCB), which connects to other components. As chips and electronic systems have become smaller and more complex, technologists have developed PCB materials and interconnections with advanced capabilities.

https://defenseopinion.com/big-mistake-in-new-budget-no-funds-to-address-a-key-electronics-shortfall/644/

[DefiantMassRINO]

My father did Printed Circuit Board (PCB) design for the defense, medical, and telecommunications sectors.  Much of that work has been offshored.

If the United States is to be competitive in electronics, it needs to drive down electricity costs.  Electronics require electricity.  AI is all about running power-hungry processors en-masse.  That electricity has to come from somewhere.

If the United States has higher electricity costs, that puts us at a competive disadvantage for cloud and AI in the Global marketplace.