Exclusive: Northrop plans to quadruple chip output by 2030
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Illustration: Shoshana Gordon/Axios
There's a chip factory tucked between Baltimore city limits and BWI Airport. For something so high-profile, it's easy to miss.
Why it matters: Northrop Grumman's Advanced Technology Lab in Linthicum Heights, Maryland, is pumping out precious, microscopic components at a time of surging stateside demand, questionable defense-industrial base fitness and broader international aggression.
- The company's chips can be found in F-16 and E-7 aircraft, Apache helicopters, G/ATOR radars, naval electronic warfare systems, drones, the James Webb telescope and more.
Driving the news: Axios toured the lab — sterile "bunny suit" and all — in late July.
The intrigue: Northrop is positioning itself as a domestic expert that plays well with others, including other defense contractors.
- That means greater supply chain visibility for buyers and users as well as cooperation with competitors.
- "The company sees a lot of value in us being able to supply our microelectronics capabilities to benefit the national interest. That's national security. That's economic security," David Shahin, senior manager of Northrop's microelectronics center, said in an interview.
Zoom in: The company is bullish on advanced packaging, a process that consolidates component footprints, ultimately saving space and boosting performance.
- Think of it like mixed-use versus single-family residential zoning.
- "The promise of advanced packaging for microelectronics is now you can fabricate the best chips wherever you need to," Shahin said, "and you can join them together into something that puts the whole system ... into something that is a fraction of the size."
Zoom out: Northrop expects to quadruple its chip production and delivery by 2030.
- It has facilities in California and Florida, as well.
