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Britain buys semiconductor factory for defence purposes

ukdefencejournal.org.uk

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Re: Britain buys semiconductor factory for defence purposes

#51

Post by Barrin92 »

morkalork wrote: post #40
_heimdall wrote: post #30

This sure feels like yet another sign that major global powers are all gearing up for war. This could be as benign as a government ensuring that the 100 jobs aren't lost, but given everything going in in both Europe and the Middle East it sure seems like more than saving such a comparatively small number of jobs. They could have just signed large(r) contracts with the company to financially secure the company, acquis…

The list of countries "casually arming up" and talking about bringing back conscription is a little concerning.

As someone who went through conscription in Germany, the last year to do so (I think), it's a huge relief to me. Almost three decades of neglect and naivete have made the world less safe, not more. Deterrence works.

Re: Britain buys semiconductor factory for defence purposes

#53

Post by onlypassingthru »

_heimdall wrote: post #30

This sure feels like yet another sign that major global powers are all gearing up for war. This could be as benign as a government ensuring that the 100 jobs aren't lost, but given everything going in in both Europe and the Middle East it sure seems like more than saving such a comparatively small number of jobs. They could have just signed large(r) contracts with the company to financially secure the company, acquis…

If you've been watching the Russian invasion closely, you'll have noticed that while it's good to have friends and allies with necessary ingredients, it's even better to be as self sufficient as possible. Relying on a foreign orange cheeto might ruin your recipe for self defense.

Re: Britain buys semiconductor factory for defence purposes

#54

Post by AStonesThrow »

_heimdall wrote: post #30

This sure feels like yet another sign that major global powers are all gearing up for war. This could be as benign as a government ensuring that the 100 jobs aren't lost, but given everything going in in both Europe and the Middle East it sure seems like more than saving such a comparatively small number of jobs. They could have just signed large(r) contracts with the company to financially secure the company, acquis…

> This sure feels like yet another sign that major global powers are all gearing up for war.

Keep an eye out for analogues to Aktion T4: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aktion_T4

Enacted in October 1939, and retroactive to 1 September, it was the final domestic coup-de-grace necessary to activate the Reich's war machine. Don't expect for a moment that it will be any different for the Allied powers.

Re: Britain buys semiconductor factory for defence purposes

#55

Post by naming_the_user »

_heimdall wrote: post #30

This sure feels like yet another sign that major global powers are all gearing up for war. This could be as benign as a government ensuring that the 100 jobs aren't lost, but given everything going in in both Europe and the Middle East it sure seems like more than saving such a comparatively small number of jobs. They could have just signed large(r) contracts with the company to financially secure the company, acquis…

A credible deterrent is required in order to prevent the mighty from simply taking everything.

For the last few decades Western countries aside from the US have basically just sat on their laurels assuming that, well, we're in the end of history and nothing will ever go wrong again. A rude awakening.

A sure fire way to ensure that there _is_ war is to sit about and sing kumbaya around the fire until the invaders turn up.

Re: Britain buys semiconductor factory for defence purposes

#56

Post by csomar »

rappatic wrote: post #31
_heimdall wrote: post #30

This sure feels like yet another sign that major global powers are all gearing up for war. This could be as benign as a government ensuring that the 100 jobs aren't lost, but given everything going in in both Europe and the Middle East it sure seems like more than saving such a comparatively small number of jobs. They could have just signed large(r) contracts with the company to financially secure the company, acquis…

Off-topic as far as the article above goes, but do you think it's more likely for global(-ish?) war to erupt because of Europe/Middle East compared to Taiwan? A lot of the discussion around global war pre-2022 was for the late 2020s when China attempts to invade Taiwan. I personally doubt the major global powers will allow the conflicts in Israel and Ukraine to escalate to Western countries actually engaging in comba…

War is momentum based. If the US gets dragged in a war with Iran and is also supplying Ukraine with weapons, China might perceive this particular moment as an advantage to start their Taiwan campaign. From there, more countries will see the chaos as an advantage to settle their border disputes. And there you have it, a global world war.

Re: Britain buys semiconductor factory for defence purposes

#57

Post by _heimdall »

firecall wrote: post #43
_heimdall wrote: post #30

This sure feels like yet another sign that major global powers are all gearing up for war. This could be as benign as a government ensuring that the 100 jobs aren't lost, but given everything going in in both Europe and the Middle East it sure seems like more than saving such a comparatively small number of jobs. They could have just signed large(r) contracts with the company to financially secure the company, acquis…

Not an expert at all, but wasn't part of The Cold War playbook to outspend the USSR? Investing in capability isn't necessarily a signal that we expect to deploy that capability. But it does force the enemy to level up, then when that enemy runs out of money, they tend to implode. I literally have no idea, so more than happy to be educated!

Well I'm shooting from the hip here and sharing only my gut intuition, so welcome to the party!

In my opinion, governments buying (or taking over) producers that are necessary for the military feels like a drastic departure to how the military industry has operated for decades.

At least in the US, though I think also in Europe, governments have been happy to keep up the status quo of writing massive checks to military contractors that, at least on face value, provide military equipment and training at a massive markup. In the US that markup also tends to be shared with those in power writing the checks through "gifts", campaign donations, and high paying jobs.

Military contractors generally don't seem to be hurting for capital to pay employees, especially the actually vital contractors. If the government takes them over, the most likely motivator I see is for the military to have full control over production, projects, and information security.

Re: Britain buys semiconductor factory for defence purposes

#58

Post by _heimdall »

rappatic wrote: post #31
_heimdall wrote: post #30

This sure feels like yet another sign that major global powers are all gearing up for war. This could be as benign as a government ensuring that the 100 jobs aren't lost, but given everything going in in both Europe and the Middle East it sure seems like more than saving such a comparatively small number of jobs. They could have just signed large(r) contracts with the company to financially secure the company, acquis…

Off-topic as far as the article above goes, but do you think it's more likely for global(-ish?) war to erupt because of Europe/Middle East compared to Taiwan? A lot of the discussion around global war pre-2022 was for the late 2020s when China attempts to invade Taiwan. I personally doubt the major global powers will allow the conflicts in Israel and Ukraine to escalate to Western countries actually engaging in comba…

I have been expecting that, if another world war were to kick off, theaters of war would exist both in Europe/Africa/East Asia as well as the Pacific.

A big risk for Taiwan, at least in my amateur view, is China feeling emboldened both by seeing an anemic response to other major conflicts and a West that is already distracted by said major conflicts.

I grew up with the story that Hong Kong was just as off limits to China as Taiwan was. No one came to Hong Kong's defence though, even the British who should be on the hook for that situation just sat by in silence while the Chinese took complete control of HK and installed their own puppet government to manage the transition.

Re: Britain buys semiconductor factory for defence purposes

#59

Post by osnium123 »

Havoc wrote: post #5

What lith node is that?

The most advanced optical lithography for 6 inch wafers is I-line (365 nm wavelength). For compound semiconductor fabs, they can use e-beam lithography which allows for shorter gate lengths. Some companies are also clever about taking I line lithography and patterning tricks to make smaller features for gates.

Re: Britain buys semiconductor factory for defence purposes

#60

Post by amy-petrik-214 »

pstrateman wrote: post #39
chasil wrote: post #35

Why gallium arsenide? It's quite fussy. "This facility is the only secure site in the UK capable of manufacturing gallium arsenide semiconductors, a vital component in military platforms such as fighter jets."

It's much more effective at extremely high frequencies used in compact radars, like the kind used on fighter jets. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gallium_arsenide#GaAs_advantag...

Yea fo sho', and it was the Cray 3 supercomputer actually based on gallium arsenide at the time, meaning faaasssttt clock rates, about 6x faster than compeititors in terms of Hz. So that would be something like a 50 ghz processor today, wild
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