Intel has finished RAMP-C, giving Washington a domestic chip pipeline and giving Chipzilla another flag to wave at foundry doubters.
Chipzilla Foundry said it has completed the Rapid Assured Microelectronics Prototypes, Commercial programme, better known as RAMP-C. The programme was launched in September 2021 to support domestic, leading-edge CMOS technology and manufacturing in the US.
That means fewer awkward dependencies on overseas foundries when Washington wants chips for commercial customers and the defence industrial base.
Chipzilla says RAMP-C has created a design enablement infrastructure that lets customers design and fabricate trusted microelectronics onshore.
Department of Defence microelectronics programme manager Eric Makara said: “The collaboration between the DoW and Intel on the Trusted & Assured Microelectronics RAMP-C program has led to the successful development of a critical state-of-the-art, leading-edge domestic semiconductor technology and design enablement infrastructure.”
“It enables commercial companies and the defence industrial base to design and fabricate trusted microelectronics on shore to improve our warfighting capabilities,” Makara said.
RAMP-C moved through three stages, starting with leading-edge technology, IP and design tools for commercial and defence customers preparing test-chip tape-outs.
Chipzilla then onboarded early customers from the commercial and defence industrial base and expanded IP and ecosystem support for Intel 18A designs.
The final stage involved tape-out and testing of early defence product prototypes, which Chipzilla says proves readiness for secure, scaled manufacturing.
That is the sort of sentence foundries love because it turns “we managed to make samples” into something that sounds like a military parade.
Chipzilla claims that RAMP-C provides customers with a repeatable path from design enablement to production readiness for advanced microelectronics.
The company wants Intel 18A to be the manufacturing base for this trusted supply chain, complete with RibbonFET and PowerVia for better performance per watt and density.
The Secure Enclave programme now builds on RAMP-C, pushing trusted manufacturing for the US government into secure, at-scale production.
Secure Enclave then leans on the State-of-the-art Heterogeneous Integrated Packaging programme, because no US semiconductor effort is complete without another acronym in uniform.
Chipzilla says these US-led efforts could serve as a model for allies and international partners seeking resilient supply chains.
Translation: if everyone is nervous enough about where their chips are made, Chipzilla might finally get paid for being the safe local option.
RAMP-C has moved from ecosystem setup to validated prototypes, putting customers in a position to use Secure Enclave for high-volume manufacturing.
The result is a domestic route for mission-critical chips without handing the whole supply chain to whichever geopolitical nightmare is trending that week.
