Aerospace remains one of the UK Export Finance’s most active sectors, yet it faces intensifying global competition, particularly from South Korea, Canada and Japan.

To maintain the UK’s edge, in June 2025, the government unveiled The UK’s Modern Industrial Strategy for Advanced Manufacturing, a ten-year plan to increase business investment and grow the industries of the future, including aerospace. Achieving this vision depends on the adoption of embedded technologies across industries that prioritise both efficiency and reliability. The strategy emphasises the need for advanced technical development and digital adoption to drive greater efficiency and support the transition to more sustainable air travel.

Capitalising on the opportunities presented by aerospace – but also Industry 4.0 – the UK is focusing on accelerated growth, with a target of becoming a global leader in advanced manufacturing. Delivering this vision requires more than policy commitments and investment pledges; it requires a resilient foundation in microelectronics. For this reason, semiconductors have been identified in the government’s strategy as the cornerstone of driving intelligent systems, their connectivity and automation. To reinforce this foundation and strengthen the UK’s position, an additional £2.6bn has been directed towards semiconductor research and development.

Semiconductors supporting avionics

The semiconductor ecosystem is broad, encompassing central processing units (CPUs) for general-purpose computing, graphics processing units (GPUs) for highly parallel operations and AI-workloads, and reconfigurable devices such as Field-Programmable Gate Arrays (FGPAs) that can be adapted post-manufacture to suit different applications. Among them, however, ASICs occupy a distinct space, offering capabilities that other semiconductors cannot match. Each of these semiconductors plays a vital role in powering the UK’s growth plans.

ASICs are highly specialised microchips engineered at the transistor and logic-gate level to execute specifically defined functions with precision and efficiency. Unlike general-purpose processors, which are built for versatility, ASICs can be optimised for power consumption, signal integrity and throughput. These capabilities are critical in aircraft, but also for real-time control in industrial automation, robotics and advanced aerospace systems.

By consolidating analogue and digital functions — such as signal conditioning, high-resolution data conversion, power management and embedded security features — onto a single chip, ASICs significantly reduce system complexity. This consolidation improves reliability, power efficiency and latency. In demanding avionics and industrial environments, it also mitigates interconnect bottlenecks, reduces electromagnetic interference (EMI) and enhances thermal performance, resulting in higher overall system stability and operation.

In aerospace applications every gram saved lowers required thrust, reduces fuel consumption and decreases carbon dioxide emissions, while also improving system reliability and signal integrity under high-vibration and temperature-variable conditions.  The demands of smaller size, lower weight and interconnect complexities of on-board systems such as flight control and sensor networks must be met with highly customisable designs, that include several functionalities such as analogue, digital and power-management. ASICs can deliver these on a single chip.

Beyond efficiency, ASICs help unlock the benefits of digitalisation for the aerospace industry, supporting real-time sensor fusion, high-speed avionics and onboard data processing. These chips handle large volumes of telemetry and operational data, enhancing situational awareness, predictive maintenance and laying the groundwork for advanced autonomous or assisted flight operations.

For the UK aerospace sector, ASICs enable smarter, more connected aircraft, enhancing system reliability, improving safety margins and reinforcing the nation’s leadership in sustainable and technologically advanced aviation.

Unlocking smart factories

The UK’s growth strategy also focuses on manufacturing where we are seeing the rise of smart factories that utilise connected Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) enabled sensors, advanced robotics, predictive maintenance and adaptive material-handling systems. These intelligent systems enable smart factories to be highly responsive, data-driven manufacturing environments.

These systems depend on high-speed data acquisition, real-time processing and energy-efficient control, all while maintaining reliable operation in demanding industrial environments. ASICs power these intelligent systems by embedding specialised processing power directly into the hardware that keeps production moving.

Sensors monitor subtle changes in vibration, temperature or current that signal early signs of machine wear, allowing operators to act before failures occur, minimising downtime and extending the lifespan of critical equipment.

ASIC-enabled sensors achieve this by processing vast streams of operational data in real time, filtering and interpreting it so only the most relevant information reaches the central control systems. This capability supports faster, more efficient decision-making, particularly for predictive maintenance.

Robotics and collaborative systems also rely on custom ICs to perform high-speed sensor fusion, precise actuator control and real-time calculations, enabling accurate and repeatable movements even in dynamic production environment.

Meanwhile, Automated guided vehicles (AGVs) use ASIC-powered, low-latency obstacle detection, path-planning algorithms and adaptive routing to optimise material flow and enable smooth operations across the factory floor.

These capabilities allow ASICs to directly support the UK’s industrial strategy goals, increasing manufacturing productivity, improving resource efficiency and fostering a more transparent, adaptable and resilient economy capable of withstanding future disruptions.

Forward with ASICs

ASICs also help mitigate the risk of obsolescence. Integrating multiple functions into a single chip reduces reliance on standard off-the-shelf components, which can be discontinued or become obsolete over time. This not only safeguards production lifecycles, it also minimises costly redesigns and component replacements, helping manufacturers maintain consistent system performance. The result is greater long-term reliability and confidence in the continuity of operations.

While ASICs were not specifically referenced in the new manufacturing strategy, their capabilities make them essential for building the connected, automated and future-ready manufacturing ecosystems that the UK seeks to establish. As the UK seeks to boost business investment and develop the industries of the future, investing in semiconductors, especially ASICs, is more than a technological decision. These highly specialised chips will be central in transforming the UK into a resilient, efficient and forward-thinking manufacturing nation, powering smarter factories and advanced aircraft.

By Ross Turnbull, Director of Business Development, Swindon Silicon