Microelectronics Secure Enclave

In support of the Secretary of War's priority to rebuild the military through reviving the U.S. defense industrial base, the Microelectronics Secure Enclave (MSE) program office was established inside the Department of the Air Force to provide oversight and direction of the nation's investment in a secure state-of-the-art (SOTA) microelectronics advanced fabrication and packaging capability. Per direction in the Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2024, development of a Secure Enclave capability was funded via Federal Financial Assistance (FFA) through the Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors and Science Act (CHIPS Act) of 2022. As part of the FFA requirements, these funds may only be executed by the commercial activity to which they were awarded and may not be used to offset costs for U.S. Government oversight of their execution. Therefore, this program element (PE) provides funding for program office support requirements, including civilian pay and contractor manpower, facilities and other direct costs incident to executing MSE scope of work. In addition, this funding will initiate pilot projects to accelerate the adoption of SOTA microelectronics for integration into critical weapon systems and will invest in sustained production output from the Secure Enclave to support the nation's most sensitive warfighting capabilities. This PE includes necessary civilian pay expenses required to manage, execute, and deliver system capability. The use of such program funds would be in addition to the civilian pay expenses budgeted in PE 0207433F, 0702806F and 0901212F. In FY 2026, $3M is forecasted for civilian pay expenses in this PE. In FY 2027, $6M is forecasted for civilian pay expenses in this PE. Additional details may be provided through classified channels. This requirement supports performance of a full financial audit as required by title 10 U.S.C. Chapter 9A, Sec 240-D. This program is in Budget Activity 5, System Development and Demonstration (SDD) because it has passed Milestone B approval and is conducting engineering and manufacturing development tasks aimed at meeting validated requirements prior to full rate production.