Ensuring the Next Generation of U.S. Weapons Has Homegrown Electronics

Estimated reading time: 4 minutes

Editor’s note: This article was originally published in Defense Opinion.

The U.S. has in the works several new weapons to counter emerging enemy threats. These include new warships, fighter aircraft, bombers, submarines, drones and a network of air defenses to defend the entire U.S. against missile and air attacks. And yet the U.S. will be challenged to produce key electronics within these systems known as printed circuit boards (PCBs), which are primarily sourced domestically.

While the U.S. government has played a key role in helping to revive the domestic semiconductor industry, with the exception of some funding through the Defense Product Act it has largely ignored domestic production of PCBs.

PCBs are the layer of circuits that connect a semiconductor, better known as a computer chip, to an electronic device. Without PCBs, chips don’t function. As of 2023, federal law prohibits the Department of Defense from using PCBs made in China, Russia, North Korea or Iran. The DoD has until January of 2027 to develop a plan to remove existing content from those countries out of the supply chain.

PCBs used in defense systems must be trusted and secure and made in America to stringent security standards. Because of security risks, only American companies, and a few exceptions for allied countries, can provide the electronics for defense systems.

The U.S. was once a leader in PCBs

The nation’s commerce and national defense depend on secure microelectronics in systems and weapons on land, under the sea and in space. These systems are powered by microelectronics consisting of rare earth minerals, specialty metals and of components sourced in other countries, some like China that are adversarial and engage in unfair trade practices.

American microelectronics made the technological revolutions of the last century possible. American companies designed and manufactured the semiconductors and printed circuit boards that made space travel, cell phones, data centers and the internet possible. The U.S. lost momentum in microelectronics manufacturing in the 1990s when companies sent production overseas in pursuit of cheap labor and government subsidies.

The nation’s largest global competitor seized this opportunity and now produces more than 60 percent of the global supply of PCBs. As China grew, the U.S. contracted. Where we once made 30 percent of the world supply of PCBs, the U.S. now makes only 4 percent.

Pressure to produce complex electronics

The loss of PCB manufacturing leadership imperils America’s technology goals. The development of new military systems puts even more pressure on the defense industrial base to produce the most complex PCBs. Drones, hypersonic weapons, fighter jets and bombers all rely on PCBs to give our military the edge needed to prevail in current and future conflicts.

As the U.S. prepares to send astronauts around the moon for the first time since 1972, that complex feat depends on thousands of PCBs from liftoff to touch down. PCBs connect semiconductors to the operational systems that will take astronauts to space and return them safely to earth. PCBs also power the satellites we depend on for security, navigation and weather data.

In addition to space travel, artificial intelligence (AI) is driving an explosion of data center growth worldwide. The U.S. has the most data centers in the world with hundreds more in the pipeline. Every acre of data center needs thousands of PCBs connecting semiconductors that manage the data used for national defense, telecommunications, air traffic control, banking, medical devices and the electricity grid.

Data centers often have American flags on the outside, but Chinese components inside. There are real risks when we allow an adversarial nation to provide key components controlling our critical infrastructure.

Government investment needed for domestic production

Friendly countries are investing billions in their PCB industries. Governments in Thailand, Japan, South Korea, India and Vietnam have all made significant investments in PCB manufacturing that have attracted private investors. But these countries are at the end of long and vulnerable supply chains and also cannot produce the trusted and secure PCBs needed for U.S. defense and critical infrastructure.

The U.S. government should invest just as other nations have done. That will pave the way for the American PCB industry to be reshored and restored. America’s investment in domestically sourcing semiconductors must be followed by a commensurate commitment to the rest of the technology stack.

Owning the future here on Earth or among the stars means building big and making American manufacturing great again. But without a visionary policy that focuses on the central importance of domestic PCBs, which are essential for space missions, AI servers and complex defense and infrastructure systems, dreams of maintaining American technological leadership will evaporate.

 David Schild is executive director of the Printed Circuit Board Association of America.