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The U.S. and India plan to enhance defense industrial cooperation, which will include the establishment of a semiconductor fabrication plant in the subcontinent that will produce military chips.
The U.S. and India will deepen defense industrial cooperation, the two countries’ leaders said on Sept. 21.
Following a meeting in Delaware between U.S. President Joe Biden and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the White House released a fact sheet emphasizing the budding bilateral defense partnership and its growing joint manufacturing initiatives. These include advance priority co-production arrangements for jet engines, munitions, and ground mobility systems.
Biden and Modi highlighted the teaming agreement on the C-130J Super Hercules aircraft that Lockheed Martin and Tata Advanced Systems signed earlier in September. Building on longstanding industry cooperation, the agreement provides a framework for the establishment of an MRO facility in India to support the Indian fleet’s readiness and global partners that operate the C-130.
“This marks a significant step in U.S.-India defense and aerospace cooperation and reflects the two sides’ deepening strategic and technology partnership ties,” the White House said.
Washington and New Delhi are also cooperating on semiconductor fabrication for national security applications. The Sept. 21 fact sheet revealed plans for a new semiconductor production facility (fab) in India specializing in infrared, gallium nitride (GaN) and silicon carbide chips.
GaN is a semiconductor material that outperforms silicon in terms of speed, power handling and extreme temperature resistance. Given its ability to enhance detection range and target discrimination, GaN technology is used in a wide array of military radars and defense systems. The global market for GaN chips is predicted to rise at a 25% annual clip through 2030, the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) said in a July 2023 report. Defense applications are expected to account for about half of the increase.
The fab will be a strategic technology partnership between the U.S. Space Force and several Indian entities, among them the state-backed India Semiconductor Mission as well as the private-sector firm Bharat Semi–which says it has been working with the U.S. military for the past five years.
Vinayak Dalmia, managing director of Bharat Semi, said that the chip-making tie-up has the potential to be a game changer for India.
“A U.S.-India partnership on these extremely critical and controlled technologies makes this announcement the second most significant U.S.-India handshake after the civil nuclear agreement,” he told The Hindustan Times on Sept. 23.
While the U.S. aims to build a more resilient global semiconductor supply chain with its allies and partners, for India the project represents an opportunity to develop some self-sufficiency in military chips. India currently imports 100% of the chips it uses for national security purposes. Such chips “all fall under stringent export control regulations. This is the first chance we have as a country to bring home this kind of technology transfer,” Dalmia said.
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