Following The NATO Summit in Ankara on 7-8th July 2026, defence readiness is back in focus. Much of the discussion centres on capability, capacity, and availability. But modern defence systems also depend on electronics that must remain reliable, supportable, and available over long service lives.
At the NATO Summit Defence Industry Forum, over $50 billion in new procurements were announced, covering precision strike capabilities, integrated air and missile defence, uncrewed systems, and other advanced technologies. European Allies and Canada raised core defence investment by more than $139 billion in 2025 alone – an increase of nearly 20% year on year. This scale of spending is not without a cost: the defence supply chain will come under greater strain, and electronics suppliers in particular will face mounting pressure to ramp up production within tighter timeframes.
Electronics at the core of modern defence
Semiconductors underpin both economic resilience and national security, supporting technologies that range from everyday infrastructure through to the most advanced defence systems. They are central to enabling modern capability, even though the supply chains behind them remain complex, globally dispersed and exposed to disruption.
These are not theoretical concerns; they show up directly in the performance of today’s defence platforms. Radar, electronic warfare, secure communications, sensor interfaces, navigation, platform control, and power management all depend on semiconductor devices and mixed-signal electronics. As platforms grow more sensor-rich and software-driven, the underlying electronics’ reliability matters more than ever. Getting semiconductor strategy right early in a programme isn’t a secondary concern, it’s foundational.
Reliability from the start
A recurring weakness in defence electronics design is treating reliability as something proven at final qualification, rather than designed into the architecture from day one. The real question isn’t just whether components pass delivery tests. Defence systems must operate through vibration, shock, moisture, extreme temperature swings, and sustained electromagnetic stress.
This becomes especially relevant when looking at how defence electronics are qualified for real-world deployment. MIL-STD-810H is unambiguous on this point: environmental design and test criteria need to be tailored to the actual conditions a system will face, not applied as a one-size-fits-all compliance exercise. Passing a standard test doesn’t in itself guarantee robustness in service. Reliability instead needs to be built into the architecture, packaging, and manufacturing process from the outset.
One way to support this is through the use of an ASIC. Where functions are stable, performance-critical, or sensitive to long-term support, a custom IC can offer real advantages over discrete alternatives.
Take an active electronically scanned array radar system as an example: functions like phase shifting, gain control, signal conditioning, and interface logic have traditionally been spread across multiple components and interconnects. Bringing these together into a single characterised device cuts component count and board-level interfaces, reducing interconnects, and points of potential failure. It also gives design engineers more direct control over electrical behaviour between functions, instead of depending on interactions between separate devices.
Cutting component count also affects thermal and electrical performance. Fewer components mean fewer heat sources, and characterising behaviour within one device can improve predictability at the system level. That doesn’t guarantee better thermal performance outright, but reducing the number of independent variables is a well-established way of achieving more consistent, verifiable results.
Consistency in build is just as important. Fielded systems, spares, and later production batches all need to stay aligned. An integrated device characterises behaviour in a single place rather than spreading it across multiple components, which simplifies design, testing and long-term support.
Lifecycle planning as part of reliability
Defence platforms are usually designed to serve for 20 to 30 years, often longer. Commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) electronic components, however, can reach end-of-life well before that point, since manufacturers typically discontinue parts based on their own commercial cycles rather than the operational lifespan of the platforms using them. This mismatch is where obsolescence problems arise.
Once a component is discontinued, the consequences go well beyond procurement, extending to redesign, requalification, updated documentation, and disruption to the wider programme. Semiconductor selection is therefore not merely a late-stage purchasing choice, but a design decision with long-term operational implications.
Custom IC programmes can help manage this by enabling controlled revisions, documented equivalence, stable interfaces, and long-term supply planning. For platforms dealing with obsolescence or refresh needs, a custom device can preserve existing interfaces while consolidating functionality, cutting down the scope of any redesign. This won’t eliminate every challenge, but it makes them considerably more manageable.
Qualification also needs to reflect genuine operating conditions. MIL-STD-810H stresses tailoring environmental criteria to real lifecycle use, including storage, transport, vibration, power cycling, maintenance intervals, and extended dormant periods. Meeting a test plan alone doesn’t guarantee sustained performance once in service.
As the Ankara summit draws attention to defence spending and capability, the engineering conversation needs to happen in tandem. Increased investment will only deliver sustained readiness if the electronics inside these systems are designed, qualified, and supported for the long haul.
For system designers and programme teams, this means treating semiconductor strategy not as a downstream procurement issue, but as an integral part of the architecture from the very beginning. In modern defence systems, readiness increasingly starts below system level.
