Defence electronics more important than videocard chips

[Paul2]

As electronics is increasingly more talked within the military action context, I feel I have to write that PRC defence industry is far more starved off components for which they cannot procure a consumer market analogue than ones for which they can.

Any generic smartphone SoC has enough processing power nowadays, sufficient for any imaginable guidance task, including computational radar imaging – something that once required a supercomputer. An MCU will compute you a missile trajectory from any point on the earth to another, and a recent smartphone SoC will be able to do a realtime imaging radar with every computational enhancement trick.

However, PRC cannot build the said imaging radars without RF and analog chips. Shahed drones cannot get guidance without high grade RF PCBs, and MEMS sensors. TV guided drones cannot see anything without specialist image sensors. All off that stuff is being relatively low volume, and has to be 99% imported by PRC, Russia, NK, Iran.

PRC can make an average SoC you put into a TV, but not 100 Ampere VHF/UHF transistors for radars, and military radios.

RF foundries, specialist RF materials/components, niche analog nodes, advanced MEMS, non-consumer grade imaging sensors – almost all is still exclusively Western.

 

[Daniel Nenni]

As electronics is increasingly more talked within the military action context, I feel I have to write that PRC defence industry is far more starved off components for which they cannot procure a consumer market analogue than ones for which they can.

Good question. AI is going to change that I think. There will be less central computing and more edge computing with AI which means leading edge silicon. If you look at what Tesla did for automotive, the US military will change the world and with all of the wars everyone will see it. Defense startup funding doubled to $18B+ in 2025.

Look at some of the new defense electronic companies. There are dozens of these companies. I saw this coming and wondered where the demand will come from but now with what is happening around the world.

New & Emerging Defense Electronics Companies​

United States (strongest growth)​

1. Deca Defense (founded 2024)​

• Focus: AI + sensor fusion + embedded systems
• Builds deployable software tightly integrated with defense electronics hardware
• Use cases: ISR (intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance), autonomous targeting

2. Aurum Systems (founded 2024)​

• Focus: Edge computing + real-time analytics
• Electronics angle: onboard processing for denied environments (no connectivity)
• Works on ISR platforms and mission systems

3. Epirus​

• Focus: Directed-energy systems (microwave weapons)
• Key tech: high-power electronics to disable drones (counter-UAS)
• Example: “Leonidas” system uses EM pulses to fry electronics

4. Modern Intelligence​

• Focus: sensor data processing + maritime tracking
• Electronics: integrates with radar/EO/IR systems for target detection

5. Kapta Space (startup, ~2025)​

• Focus: electronically steerable radar (phased-array-like systems)
• Electronics-heavy: advanced antenna + RF beam steering for satellites
• Enables faster imaging and multi-mode radar sensing

Europe (rapidly growing defense electronics ecosystem)​

6. STARK (founded 2024, Germany)​

• Focus: unmanned systems + loitering munitions
• Electronics: embedded avionics, guidance, control, and mission software
• Products include drones + mission control systems

7. Avalor AI (Netherlands)​

• Focus: AI + sensor intelligence for defense
• Likely applied to surveillance and battlefield awareness

8. Comand AI (France)​

• Focus: AI-driven command & control systems
• Integrates multiple electronic systems (sensors, communications)

Autonomous / Electronic Systems & Drones​

9. Wild West Systems (founded 2025)​

• Focus: autonomous drones + modular hardware
• Electronics: onboard autonomy, sensing, and control systems

10. Shield AI (scale-up but still “new gen”)​

• Focus: AI pilots + drone autonomy
• Electronics-heavy stack: sensors + onboard compute + autonomy software
• Expanding via acquisitions of sensor companies

 

[Xebec]

However, PRC cannot build the said imaging radars without RF and analog chips. Shahed drones cannot get guidance without high grade RF PCBs, and MEMS sensors. TV guided drones cannot see anything without specialist image sensors. All off that stuff is being relatively low volume, and has to be 99% imported by PRC, Russia, NK, Iran.

PRC can make an average SoC you put into a TV, but not 100 Ampere VHF/UHF transistors for radars, and military radios.

RF foundries, specialist RF materials/components, niche analog nodes, advanced MEMS, non-consumer grade imaging sensors – almost all is still exclusively Western.

Is Russia totally out of the game on producing some of this (radars/military radio)? I know they're terribly behind on IC lithography, but the Soviet Union had to have a massive industry around some of these giant analog components that probably haven't changed that much in recent decades?

I also imagine there has to be an 'unequal' response to this -- it's possible to get the effect of radar with swarms of small electronics these days. There's a few good examples of Youtube and elsewhere. Perhaps the small electronics / shorter range radios can form the foundation of a new architecture of high redundancy (due to mass # of devices) for on-ground military intelligence and communications.