BAE Systems announced a strategic business agreement that will result in the BAE Systems’ FAST Labs research and development organization having early access to select Intel technologies. The agreement will enable BAE Systems to develop and more quickly field next-generation defense applications based on Intel’s most advanced technology.
While commercial off-the-shelf semiconductor technology has increasingly been incorporated into U.S. defense applications, military-grade technology requires domestically developed custom capabilities that go beyond commercially available technology. To date, this development lag of customizing commercial technology has resulted in significant time gaps between chip-level technology and defense applications being fielded.
Frank Ferrante, senior director of the Military Aerospace and Defense Division at Intel stated that they are excited to extend their existing relationship with BAE Systems and look forward to working with them to protect national security, critical infrastructure, and vital information. Chris Rappa, director at BAE Systems’ FAST Labs said that early access to Intel’s developing technology can speed the timetable of producing defense applications and maintain their country’s technological edge.
This announcement comes on the heels of other new collaborations between BAE Systems and Intel, including on Intel’s recently launched Field Programmable Gate Array technology and on the SHIP-Digital program, which will extend Intel’s wideband radio frequency signal processing platform to the most size, weight, and power-constrained defense applications. This collaboration will result in BAE Systems continuing to deliver the most advanced capabilities at significantly lower costs.
