{"id":62400,"date":"2022-09-22T16:35:57","date_gmt":"2022-09-22T16:35:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2022\/09\/22\/as-semiconductor-shortages-linger-one-defense-firm-gets-creative\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T00:42:39","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T00:42:39","slug":"as-semiconductor-shortages-linger-one-defense-firm-gets-creative","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/pentagon\/2022\/09\/22\/as-semiconductor-shortages-linger-one-defense-firm-gets-creative\/","title":{"rendered":"As semiconductor shortages linger, one defense firm gets creative"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

WASHINGTON \u2015 Defense firm L3Harris<\/a> Technologies says it bought back and cannibalized its own radios to meet customer demands amid shortages of computer chips<\/a> and some components.<\/p>\n\n\n\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\n\n\n

Speaking at a Morgan Stanley event last week, L3Harris Chief Financial Officer Michelle Turner<\/a> said a \u201cbig-name chip supplier\u201d she did not identify wasn\u2019t able 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\n\n\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\n\n\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\n\n\n

The chief executive of America\u2019s No. 2 defense firm Raytheon Technologies<\/a>, said microchips could continue to be scarce beyond mid-2023.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re working with our distributors \u2015 and it is just a day-to-day challenge,\u201d Greg Hayes<\/a> said 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\n\n\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\n\n\n

Defense officials said earlier this year<\/a> production of Raytheon\u2019s Javelin<\/a> and Stinger<\/a> missiles, a key part of U.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 Lockheed Martin<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\t