The Department of War (DOW) today announced a $22.1 million, 24-month contract awarded to Michigan State University (East Lansing, MI), Trusted Strategic Solutions LLC (Sacramento, CA), and Nucleon (Atlanta, GA)—all members of the National Center for Manufacturing Sciences Consortium. This initiative, funded through the Assistant Secretary of War for Industrial Base Policy's Industrial Base Analysis and Sustainment (IBAS) program, will significantly expand and enhance domestic radiation testing infrastructure necessary for qualifying radiation-hardened microelectronics.
"This strategic partnership delivers a crucial capability for our national security and defense readiness," said Assistant Secretary of War for Industrial Base Policy, the Honorable Michael Cadenazzi. "By expanding our domestic radiation test infrastructure at Michigan State University's Facility for Rare Isotope Beams, we are securing a critical testing pipeline for radiation-hardened microelectronics and ensuring the resilience of our most advanced defense systems."
By increasing domestic access to high-energy heavy ion beam single event effects (SEE) testing, this investment directly strengthens the resilience of the nation's most advanced defense systems.
The Optimized Radiation Beam Infrastructure for Testing Systems (ORBITS) project will construct a dedicated SEE testing beamline and experimental end-station attached to Linear Accelerator Segment 3 of the superconducting radiofrequency Facility for Rare Isotope Beams at Michigan State University. Once operational, the facility will provide up to 2,000 hours of SEE testing capacity annually. The advanced beam parameters will extend beyond current domestic capabilities, providing heavy ions with energies up to 150 MeV/u and light ions with energies up to 300 MeV/u.
Since the IBAS program's inception in 2014, the Department of War's Office of Industrial Base Policy has invested more than $5.1 billion across 219 projects aimed at bolstering the defense industrial base. The IBAS program is part of the Assistant Secretary of War for Industrial Base Policy's effort to analyze the industrial base, identify critical gaps, and make targeted investments to build new capabilities and secure capacity, all while partnering directly with industry. For more information on the Office of Industrial Base Policy, please visit: https://www.businessdefense.gov/ibr/.
About the Office of the Assistant Secretary of War for Industrial Base Policy (OASW(IBP))
The OASW(IBP) works with domestic and international partners to forge and sustain a robust, secure, and resilient industrial base enabling the warfighter, now and in the future. The OASW(IBP)'s Warfighting Investments, Resourcing, and Execution office, which manages the IBAS program and Defense Production Act (DPA) purchases, provides DOW with key capabilities to achieve the strategic aims of the 2026 National Defense Strategy and presidential executive orders. Each calls for a strong, resilient, responsive, and healthy national industrial base that can respond at-will to national security requirements.