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

  • Microelectronics ‘fundamental’ to every military system: Hicks
  • Deputy secretary pitches for the Chips Act pending in Congress
Soldiers fire a Javelin anti-tank missile.

Soldiers fire a Javelin anti-tank missile.

Photographer: Scott Barbour/Getty Images

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.”