La firma estadounidense de Defensa\u00a0L3Harris\u00a0Technologies dice que\u00a0recompr\u00f3\u00a0y\u00a0canibaliz\u00f3\u00a0sus propias radios para satisfacer las demandas de los clientes en medio de la escasez de chips de computadora y algunos componentes. La compa\u00f1\u00eda y otras en m\u00faltiples sectores se han visto obstaculizadas por una escasez de semiconductores que se remonta a casi dos a\u00f1os.<\/p>\n
WASHINGTON \u2015 Defense firm\u00a0L3Harris<\/a>\u00a0Technologies says it bought back and cannibalized its own radios to meet customer demands amid\u00a0shortages of computer chips<\/a>\u00a0and some components.<\/p>\n The company and others across multiple sectors have been hampered by a semiconductor shortage that stretches back nearly two years. Industry executives said they expect supply chain challenges to last longer than originally anticipated and that the chip shortage will drag into mid-2023 or beyond \u2014 potentially forcing businesses to get creative.<\/p>\n Speaking at a Morgan Stanley event last week, L3Harris Chief Financial Officer\u00a0Michelle Turner<\/a>\u00a0said a \u201cbig-name chip supplier\u201d she did not identify was unable to meet her firm\u2019s demand heading into the fiscal quarter that began in July. That forced the company to find circuits, called field-programmable gate arrays, from an unusual source.<\/p>\n \u201cWe went to one of our customers, where we knew they were disposing of some old radios. We took those radios back, we broke them down. We\u2019re using the [field-programmable gate arrays] within those radios to rebuild them into the current formation, to be able to meet the demand and deliver,\u201d Turner said.<\/p>\n L3Harris, also known for making intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance gear; avionics; and night vision equipment, considers the chip shortage \u201can acute pain point,\u201d Turner said. Wider supply problems, she said, have forced the company to stockpile products in its supply chain to ensure it can ship its wares quickly, she told the Morgan Stanley conference.<\/p>\n The chief executive of America\u2019s No. 2 defense firm\u00a0Raytheon Technologies<\/a>, said microchips could continue to be scarce beyond mid-2023.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re working with our distributors \u2015 and it is just a day-to-day challenge,\u201d\u00a0Greg Hayes<\/a>\u00a0said Sept. 14 at the Morgan Stanley event. \u201cWe don\u2019t see that rectifying itself until probably sometime in the middle of next year if we\u2019re lucky, and as people are bringing on more capacity.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve all talked about electronics, chips. We remain hand-to-mouth just like everybody else. We are seeing some stabilization, I would tell you, in the supply chain there,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n Defense officials\u00a0said earlier this year<\/a>\u00a0production of Raytheon\u2019s\u00a0Javelin<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Stinger<\/a>\u00a0missiles, a key part of\u00a0U.S. aid for Ukraine in its fight against Russia<\/a>, has been hamstrung by persistent semiconductor manufacturing delays. The Javelin anti-tank weapon is made by a joint venture with\u00a0Lockheed Martin<\/a>.<\/p>\n Defense firms, ahead of the semiconductor shortage, were comfortably able to have manufacturers execute short production runs of specialized chips for use in weapons systems. But because those runs aren\u2019t cost-effective, chip manufacturers aren\u2019t rushing to do them now, said Bryan Clark, a defense analyst at the Hudson Institute.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s been a problem, that DoD\u2019s vendors depend on the same chip suppliers as everyone else,\u201d Clark said. \u201cThese foundries are incentivized to do large-scale commercial work because that\u2019s where they can make a lot of money … which meant that in some cases DoD vendors were having to wait in line behind commercial firms.\u201d<\/p>\n The Pentagon is increasingly turning to generic commercial chips that are both suitable to replace older, bespoke chips in its weapons and easier to get, according to Clark.<\/p>\n Gordon Stein<\/a>, the vice president of U.S. operations for\u00a0General Dynamics Land Systems<\/a>, which makes the Abrams tank and other armored vehicles, said defense firms ought to work together to purchase scarce materials and components.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re only a tiny little bit of microelectronics [consumers] compared to the industrial and the automotive and the 5G infrastructure,\u201d Stein, speaking at a Washington think tank event this week, said of the defense industry. \u201cWe\u2019re talking about collaboration and communication here across the industrial base. We have to talk to solve these problems.\u201d<\/p>\n The U.S. and Europe have been pushing aggressively to build chipmaking capacity and reduce reliance on producers now mostly based in Asia.<\/p>\n Several chipmakers last year signaled an interest in expanding their American operations if the U.S. government is able to make it easier to build chip plants. Earlier this month, chipmaker Micron broke ground on a $15 billion factory in Boise, Idaho, and Intel began building a $20 billon computer chip facility in Ohio.<\/p>\n Intel had delayed groundbreaking on the $20 billion plant until Congress passed the bipartisan CHIPS and Science Act. The bill includes $39 billion in manufacturing incentives, with $2 billion for the legacy chips used in automobiles and defense systems.<\/p>\n Expanding semiconductor manufacturing domestically took on new urgency during the pandemic and as most production has shifted overseas. The U.S. share of the worldwide chip manufacturing market has declined from 37% in 1990 to 12% today, according to the Semiconductor Industry Association, and shortages have become a potential risk.<\/p>\n