Why STM and Leonardo have to go full chip
According to Gianclaudio Torlizzi, advisor to the Ministries of Defense and Business, Italy must have a national plan for semiconductors involving the Leonardo and STM groups. All the details of the paper presented today at Luiss
Italy needs to develop greater strategic autonomy in the microchip sector, crucial devices both for the production of cars and electronic devices, and for the development of new digital technologies and military equipment. It is the premise from which the proposal for a national plan for semiconductors developed by Gianclaudio Torlizzi (in the photo), raw materials expert and advisor to the Ministries of Defense and Business, presented today at the Luiss Guido Carli University.
Torlizzi's plan, set out in a policy paper for the Policy Observatory of Luiss University and entitled Semiconductors in the defense sector: proposal for a national plan , is divided into five points.
THE RELATIONSHIP WITH THE UNITED STATES
First of all, the analyst and founder of T-Community invites the government to "regulate the relationship" with the United States – the leading country in the chip design phase and our ally – regarding "chip supplies for the Italian Defense sector". The American government-industrial sector is very attentive to the protection of national security and places constraints both on the sharing of technical skills and on the export of dual-use materials and devices (i.e. usable in both the civil and military sectors).
Since the United States is our "main supplier", Torlizzi writes, "it is in the interest of the national industrial system that any potential agreement with the United States or investment by US companies in national territory regulates the degree of protection of intellectual property a priori".
LEONARDO'S ROLE IN SEMICONDUCTORS
The second point of the plan is dedicated to the development of microchip production capabilities in Leonardo for the design and manufacturing of MMIC GaN and GaAs semiconductors. The company – 30 percent owned by the government through the Ministry of Economy – already produces monolithic microwave integrated circuits (MMICs), used in radars and other electronic warfare equipment. Leonardo is the only company in Europe, together with the Franco-German United Monolithic Semiconductors, to produce MMIC chips.
GaAs-GaN technology, writes Torlizzi, "is enabling the high-end radar sensors and Electronic Warfare devices for which the Italian Defense industry claims a leadership role in Europe". In Torlizzi's vision, Leonardo should concentrate all the production phases of these very sophisticated semiconductors internally and become a supplier for other companies in the defense sector. “Given the investment required” to develop these advanced capabilities, explains Torlizzi, “the State will naturally have to maintain a monitoring action on the production levels achieved with verification steps”.
THE INCENTIVES FOR DUAL TECHNOLOGIES AND THE INVOLVEMENT OF STM
At the third point, the plan proposes the establishment of "incentive systems for those dual use semiconductor production programs through which to obtain that buffer capable of guaranteeing production ramp up in case of military needs".
The fourth point, however, concerns the "involvement" of STMicroelectronics , an Italian-French company owned by the Ministry of Economy, in the development of semiconductors for the Defense sector. Torlizzi recalls the low interest of microchip companies in this market, "due to the low production volumes"; however, he continues, “the challenges that the country will have to face in the years to come require a much greater sensitivity to issues relating to national security than in the past. Therefore, the attention paid to production efficiency will have to go hand in hand with the strategic needs of the country".
A NEW COMPANY
Lastly, Torlizzi proposes the creation of a new venture capital company controlled entirely by the Ministry of Defense and aimed at providing financing to "new emerging companies" specialized in semiconductors.
“The development of national semiconductor production capacity”, concludes the expert, “also represents an opportunity for the country system in order to obtain a better positioning in Europe in view of possible future alliances”.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/innovazione/piano-nazionale-semiconduttori-torlizzi/ on Tue, 14 Nov 2023 15:09:29 +0000.