Hendon Semiconductors (HSC), a producer of microelectronics, has received a grant from the $122 million Economic Recovery Fund of the South Australian government. The fund granted the specialized electronic design and subassembly manufacturing business $605,561, which HSC would match, making the total investment $1,227,522.
The funds will go toward improving the facilities and equipment, including adding a Class 10k Clean room, a sterilization chamber, Chip on Board (COB), and a new spectrum analyzer that will enhance the capacity to test high frequency radio frequency systems.
Applications for these improved capabilities may be found in many areas of the defense industry, especially in the field of electronic warfare, where Hendon Semiconductors already provides custom solutions.
This funding comes after a $690,000 Sovereign Industrial Capability Priority funding for defense was given out in May 2023. The funding assisted Hendon in updating its production capacity for printed circuit board assemblies (PCBAs) and hybrid integrated circuits (HICs).
HSC, which was one of the first in Australia and the first in the state to produce semiconductors when it was founded in 1959, has grown to include emerging industries including defense.
Executive General Manager Brenton Judge said: “We extended our product range to support defence applications, historically working closely with the Defence Science and Technology Group developing sovereign defence products and in later years with several primes.
“The ERF grant will extend our existing capabilities to give us the ability to do, or offer an alternative for, almost all of the processes within the semiconductor supply chain.”
Round 1 of the ERF saw $14.8 million allocated to manufacturing innovation projects, with HSC joining a list of companies including REDARC Defence and Space, AML3D and entX Limited.
