The U.S. Department of Defense, through the Defense Microelectronics Activity, Trusted Access Program Office, has accredited GlobalFoundries’ advanced manufacturing facility in Malta as a Category 1A Trusted Supplier with the ability to manufacture secure semiconductors for a range of critical aerospace and defense applications.
The latest milestone in the longstanding partnership between the government and GlobalFoundries, the accreditation was enabled by GlobalFoundries’ ability to meet requirements for having stringent security processes, equipment, and oversight in place to accept and protect sensitive information and manufacture trusted chips in a way that ensures they are secure and uncompromised.
These securely manufactured chips include those manufactured on GlobalFoundries’ most advanced 12nm FinFET technologies, and will be used in DoD systems on land, air, sea, and in space, officials said.
“The secure manufacturing of semiconductors is critical to safeguarding the confidentiality, integrity, and reliability of the technology that powers our modern world, and nowhere is this more important than aerospace, defense, and critical infrastructure systems,” said Dr. Thomas Caulfield, president and CEO of GlobalFoundries. “We are proud to deepen our relationship with the Defense Department, and to receive DMEA accreditation at our New York manufacturing facility. GlobalFoundries differentiated chip technologies provide optimized performance for critical DoD systems, and we are uniquely positioned by our ability to provide secure semiconductor manufacturing at scale.”
Dr. Nicholas Martin, DMEA director, said the accreditation at the Malta site will enable Defense Microelectronics Activity “to have access to the most advanced ASIC technology node available from a DMEA accredited trusted supplier. Accrediting GlobalFoundries to manufacture our country’s sensitive chips strengthens the domestic microelectronics industrial base and our nation’s efforts to fortify its semiconductor supply chain for national and economic security.
“Trusted supplier accreditation continues to be a benchmark in semiconductor assurance and will ensure the DoD has reliable access to a range of securely manufactured chips it needs for its defense systems and is the latest collaboration in the longstanding partnership between the DoD and GlobalFoundries to provide silicon-based semiconductors for defense and aerospace applications.”
In 2022, the Defense Department, through the Manufacturing Capability Expansion and Investment Prioritization (MCEIP) Directorate, entered a $117 million agreement with GF to provide a strategic supply of U.S.-made semiconductors built in Malta on GlobalFoundries’ differentiated 45nm SOI platform.
This accreditation adds to GlobalFoundries’ New York Facility’s compliance with U.S. International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) and highly restrictive Export Control Classification Numbers under the Export Administration Regulations (EAR).
GlobalFoundries employs approximately 2,500 people in Malta and has invested more than $15 billion in the facility.