In response to our previous release on the Supply Chain, Logistics, and Manufacturing issues related to Stinger (and Javelin) man portable weapons questions and requests received are answered here.
In widespread media coverage there has been differing reports about the manufacturing capacities, likely supply chain needs, and weapons pipelines.
Semiconductors in the Supply Chain
Javelin man portable weapons’ production will be slowed down by availability of some semiconductor parts. The production rate achievable will be determined by the lowest capacity-to-surge of a component semiconductor manufacturer. The legacy low rate of current production is a sign of inability to surge the rate of components only used for these missiles. The Defense Production Act and other financial incentives from the government are not sufficient to surge production (by 10x as an example).
The White House briefing following (May 2) “Each Javelin missile requires more than 200 semiconductors to make.” The President’s remarks at the Alabama Lockheed plant, “… each of the Javelins you produce includes more than 200 semiconductors.” The CEO of Lockheed (May 8) responded to the question, “So what do you need to do that? Because you did say supply chain’s an issue. I read that there’s over 250 microchips or semiconductors in each Javelin.” with “That’s right.”
Upgrading semiconductors in new-build Javelins will also be a question. The original Javelin used monochrome viewfinder. The new LWCLU uses a 5M pixel HD Color camera and a 64x64 CdHgTe IR imaging element.
Not only are the supplies of necessary chipsets short, but there are issues with workforce supply to manufacture the missiles. Read our next blog post - Javelin and Stinger Production workforce here at www.ekalore.com/blog-1
Comments