The U.S. Army has selected Navitas Semiconductor for its ALATTIS programme, a defence initiative centred on 10 kV silicon-carbide power semiconductors, according to a programme listing surfaced via Dealroom.co.

The selection places Navitas — a company built commercially around gallium nitride and silicon-carbide power ICs for fast chargers, data-centre power and electric vehicles — inside a military development effort that targets devices operating at the 10 kV class. That voltage range sits well above the 1,200 V and 3.3 kV SiC MOSFETs that dominate today's commercial silicon-carbide catalogue from suppliers such as Infineon, STMicroelectronics, onsemi and Wolfspeed.

Silicon-carbide devices in the 10 kV class are of particular interest for defence applications because wide-bandgap materials can block far higher voltages per device than silicon IGBTs, enabling power conversion stages with fewer series-connected switches, higher efficiency and greater power density. For the Army, that translates into potential gains in areas such as directed-energy weapons, high-power radar, mobile power distribution and electric-drive platforms — all applications where conversion efficiency and weight carry direct operational consequences.

Navitas entered the silicon-carbide business through its 2023 acquisition of GeneSiC, adding SiC MOSFETs and diodes to a portfolio previously anchored in GaNFast gallium-nitride power ICs. A defence programme at the 10 kV node would push the company's SiC roadmap into territory that mainstream commercial suppliers have approached only cautiously, since volume demand above 6.5 kV remains thin outside grid and military niches.

Details of the ALATTIS programme's scope, funding value, timeline and device targets were not disclosed in the available listing. Navitas and the U.S. Army have not publicly commented on contract values or volume expectations.

The award nonetheless signals a broader trend: U.S. defence agencies are increasingly qualifying wide-bandgap semiconductor suppliers as silicon reaches its physical limits in high-voltage, high-frequency power conversion. For a company of Navitas' size — smaller than the vertically integrated SiC incumbents with their own wafer supply — a defence design win offers a demand channel less exposed to the pricing pressure that has compressed margins across commercial SiC markets as Chinese capacity expands.

How quickly 10 kV-class SiC devices move from defence development into the qualification cycle, and whether Navitas can secure the epitaxial wafer supply needed for such high-voltage grades, will shape the commercial significance of the ALATTIS selection.