Onsemi’s East Fishkill Fab Earns Department of Defense Trusted Foundry Status

The only 300mm power discrete and image sensor fab in the U.S. is now accredited to build secure chips for aerospace and defense

Not every chip can come from anywhere. For aerospace and defense systems, the Department of Defense requires suppliers to prove that their design, manufacturing, and supply chain meet strict security standards. In October 2024, onsemi’s wafer fab in East Fishkill, New York, cleared that bar, earning accreditation from the Defense Microelectronics Activity (DMEA) as a Category 1A Trusted Supplier.

The accreditation enables onsemi to manufacture secure advanced semiconductors for critical defense applications at the Hudson Valley site. East Fishkill is the only 300mm power discrete and image sensor fab in the United States, and it became the company’s second accredited fab, joining its facility in Gresham, Oregon.

A fab with history

The East Fishkill facility has been part of New York’s semiconductor story for decades. Built by IBM, it passed to GlobalFoundries in 2015 and was acquired by onsemi in 2022 as part of the company’s push into intelligent power and sensing technologies. Under onsemi, the 300mm fab has become a cornerstone of the company’s manufacturing network, with 282,000 square feet of fab and back-end cleanroom space.

“Power and sensing technologies are vital in modern defense systems.”
Sudhir Gopalswamy, Group President, Intelligent Sensing and Analog and Mixed-Signal Group, onsemi

What trusted status means

Trusted Foundry accreditation is a rigorous process. Suppliers must demonstrate comprehensive security and operational controls, including protection of mission-critical functions for trusted systems and networks, an assured chain of custody, and safeguards against tampering. The program gives the U.S. government guaranteed access to leading-edge microelectronics from domestic sources, including for low-volume applications that commercial supply chains often cannot serve.

With the accreditation in place, onsemi can now provide custom-designed and custom-manufactured power and sensing solutions for specific Department of Defense programs from New York. It is a signal that the Hudson Valley, long a center of semiconductor research and production, remains a place where the most sensitive work in the industry gets done.

Source: onsemi press release, October 29, 2024 and onsemi Aerospace & Defense brochure (fab square footage)

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