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GlobalFoundries (GF) and Qualinx announced the successful completion of the first fully European-based, end-to-end semiconductor manufacturing flow at GlobalFoundries’ Dresden fab on its FDX technology. The milestone demonstrates that security-critical chips for aerospace, defense and critical infrastructure can be designed, manufactured and delivered entirely within Europe.
In this partnership, Qualinx served as the launch customer with a sophisticated GNSS SoC design for secure Positioning, Navigation and Timing (PNT) applications. The QLX3xx design targets sovereign GNSS-based PNT solutions for aerospace, defense and critical infrastructures—such as resilient timing and synchronization networks and highly integrated, ultra-low-power GNSS receivers at the connected edge.
GF and Qualinx Set a Benchmark for GF’s European Sovereign Manufacturing co-funded by the European Chips Act, GF’s Dresden fab is establishing its European sovereign manufacturing flow, consolidating every step of the production process — from design intake and mask services to wafer manufacturing — within the European Union. No sensitive design data or physical materials leave Europe, meeting the strict regulatory and security requirements of European governments, defense agencies, system integrators and critical infrastructure operators.
“We are demonstrating that Europe can rely on a secure, end-to-end semiconductor manufacturing flow that meets the highest requirements of aerospace and defense,” said Dr. Manfred Horstmann, Senior Vice President and General Manager at GlobalFoundries. “Our partnership with Qualinx marks the first operational milestone: it shows that complex, security-relevant ASIC designs for aerospace, defense, and critical infrastructure can already be industrialized today using a fully European, trusted manufacturing path.”
“This first secure product demonstrates that a fully European manufacturing path – from mask services to wafer production – is already a reality today,” said Tom Trill, CEO of Qualinx. “Together with GlobalFoundries, we’ve optimized our Digital RF technology on GF’s FDX with a secure end-to-end flow, culminating in the launch of our ultra-low-power reconfigurable GNSS SoC and Analog Front End. This milestone underscores our ability to deliver trusted, energy-efficient solutions while maintaining full control over IP, data and the supply chain within Europe.”
Roadmap: Scaling European Sovereign Manufacturing. The tape‑out realized with Qualinx represents the first operational milestone on the path toward a fully automated trusted European flow, which GF aims to establish in Dresden by the end of 2026. Starting in 2027, aerospace and defense, as well as critical infrastructure customers, will be able to use this automated flow as part of regular foundry engagements, including the integration of European IP partners, mask houses and OSAT service providers to ensure a consistent, European-anchored value chain.
Already today, a number of European system and module manufacturers from aerospace and defense, as well as operators of critical infrastructure, are in discussions with GF to map upcoming product generations onto GF’s sovereign manufacturing flow. The successful start with Qualinx serves as a strong proof point and reduces both technical and regulatory risks for subsequent programs.
To further strengthen its European sovereign manufacturing flow, GF is also working with leading European connectivity and cloud providers to secure data flows across the entire semiconductor value chain. In a joint project with Deutsche Telekom, GF is assessing how production-related data from design and tape-out through manufacturing, test and quality can be processed, transported and stored entirely within Europe on European networks, cloud infrastructures and data centers. The resulting practices in secure data routing, encryption and access management for highly sensitive A&D and critical infrastructure workloads will feed directly into the scaling of GF’s European sovereign manufacturing model.
