Surface-to-Air Missiles Need Chips Too, Pentagon Tells Congress

The Pentagon is pushing for the passage of legislation aimed at boosting the US’s domestic semiconductor industry, telling lawmakers the components, which go into everything from vacuum cleaners to fighter jets, are needed for the war in Ukraine.

“The national security stakes for passing the Chips Act are high,” Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks said in a statement to Bloomberg News. “Microelectronics are fundamental to virtually every current and legacy military system.”

Hicks said the production of Javelin and Stinger missiles -- “systems desperately needed by those in Ukraine” -- are hampered by persistent semiconductor manufacturing delays and that ...