Abstract
In 1947 a groundbreaking innovation took place at Bell Labs, which gave birth to the semiconductor industry. Silicon Valley turned into a semiconductor industry at a global level. Immediately, semiconductors became extremely critical for military usage during the Cold War era. Firms like Fairchild Semiconductors and later Intel became globally known for developing technologies to support the military systems. This establishes that semiconductors, which are referred to as emerging technologies, remained the backbone of military systems ever since the beginning of the Cold War era. India too realised the importance of developing a strong indigenous semiconductor ecosystem for defence applications. Hence, New Delhi has been making significant efforts to create a self-reliant ecosystem that would be able to support the changing character of modern warfare. The article highlights the evolution of the semiconductor ecosystem with special emphasis on the military aspect. It also analysis the structural challenges and imperatives to mitigate them.
