Could defense contract bring more growth to Wolfspeed?

A little over two years after the Wolfspeed silicon carbide fab opened at the Marcy Nanocenter, it has about 500 workers and has snagged a $10.9 million federal defense contract.

Local officials praised both as signs of the success of the vision that, after decades of planning, brought the world’s first and largest 200mm silicon carbide wafer fab to Oneida County.

Back in April 2022, officials predicted that Wolfspeed, which had 265 employees when it opened, would reach 400 employees by 2026.

“Wolfspeed is what we wanted for so long,” Oneida County Executive Anthony Picente Jr. said during a press conference at Wolfspeed last week held by U.S. Rep. Brandon Williams, R-22, to announce the military contract and to highlight Wolfspeed’s success and growth.

It’s not just about one company coming to the county; it’s about the technological ecosystem being created around Wolfspeed with state and county efforts, SUNY Polytechnic Institute training programs, Wolfspeed internships for students and other firms moving to Central New York, Picente said.

“Without Wolfspeed, nothing else comes to New York,” he added.

Wolfspeed is still only operating at 25% of its capacity, but it’s putting in equipment to continue ramping up, Williams said.

The contract with the U.S. Department of Defense will have Wolfspeed creating components for directed energy systems, said Williams, a member of the U.S. House Committee on Science, Space and Technology, and chair of its Subcommittee on Energy.

Think of old-time Death Rays or of Star Wars’ Death Star, but used for defense, he said.

Such a multi-firing system would prevent having to fire expensive missiles to bring down much less expensive rockets and drones.

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But the problem with creating these systems has been power, Williams said. It is difficult to make defensive weapons that are powerful enough with a long enough range, he said.

“You can’t do that with conventional electronics,” he said.

You need semiconductors, but not just silicon, he said. Silicon carbide can handle higher voltages and currents, providing enough energy to burn a hole in a missile or drone and cause it to overheat, Williams said.

And silicon carbide could be developed to make a power source reliable and affordable enough to shoot down a battery of enemy rockets or drones, he said.

This article originally appeared on Observer-Dispatch: Could defense contract bring more growth to Wolfspeed?