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.
