M/A-COM (MACOM Technology Solutions) — legacy MIL-PRF-19500 JAN, JANTX & JANTXV discrete diode & transistor sourcing
MACOM Technology Solutions (Nasdaq: MTSI) — descended from Microwave Associates (founded 1950) and the original M/A-COM, Inc. — is today a publicly-traded RF, microwave and photonic-IC company. Its historic MIL-PRF-19500 hermetic Hi-Rel discrete business, inherited via the 2015 Aeroflex Metelics deal and operated out of Lawrence, Massachusetts, was sold to VPT Components in September 2018. Current MACOM is largely not on the QML-19500 today, but very large populations of legacy M/A-COM, Aeroflex Metelics, and Metelics Hi-Rel JAN parts remain in the defense supply chain and are what this page is about.
- 1950Founded
- Lowell, MAMACOM HQ
- Nasdaq: MTSIOwnership
- Sept 2018Hi-Rel Sold
- VPT ComponentsJAN Successor
- JAN → JANTXVLegacy Levels
Important — MACOM's MIL-PRF-19500 line is now VPT Components
In September 2018, MACOM Technology Solutions sold its Hi-Rel Components business — the former Aeroflex Metelics operation in Lawrence, Massachusetts that carried the MIL-PRF-19500 slash-sheet qualifications — to VPT Components (VPT, Inc.). VPT stated at the time that it was "committed to supporting the former MACOM slash sheet qualifications as previously listed on the QML," and the transaction added roughly 40,000 sq ft of hermetic discrete manufacturing and test capability to VPT.
The practical takeaway: current-production equivalents of legacy M/A-COM / Aeroflex Metelics JAN parts are today produced by VPT Components, not by MACOM. Legacy-branded M/A-COM inventory remains in circulation as excess and obsolete stock across the defense supply chain, and that is what this page focuses on.
About M/A-COM and the modern MACOM
The company that today trades as MACOM Technology Solutions Holdings, Inc. (Nasdaq: MTSI, headquartered at 100 Chelmsford Street, Lowell, Massachusetts) is the latest form of one of the oldest names in U.S. microwave engineering. It began in the summer of 1950 as Microwave Associates, founded in roughly 2,800 square feet of rented Boston floor space by four ex-Sylvania and MIT Radiation Lab engineers — Vessarios Chigas, Louis Roberts, Hugh Wainwright, and Richard M. Walker. Their first customer was the U.S. Army Signal Corps, for circular-waveguide elements and shortly afterward for magnetrons; the Walker Building at the modern MACOM GaAs semiconductor site in Lowell is named for co-founder Richard Walker.
Microwave Associates moved from Boston to Route 128 (Burlington, MA) in 1957 and went public that year, listing on the NYSE in 1973. In 1978 it renamed itself M/A-COM, Inc. to reflect its growing role in RF/microwave communications; under CEO Lawrence Gould's acquisition spree it absorbed Digital Communications Corp., Linkabit, Omni Spectra, and Ohio Scientific and became one of the world's leading producers of microwave components for defense and commercial telecom.
In June 1995 M/A-COM was acquired by connector giant AMP Inc. in an all-stock deal valued at approximately $316 million. AMP was itself acquired by Tyco International in 1999, folding M/A-COM into what became Tyco Electronics. In May 2008, Tyco Electronics sold the M/A-COM RF Components & Subsystems business to UK-based Cobham plc for $425 million; the sale closed that September. Cobham quickly reorganized: on March 31, 2009 it sold the commercial component business — renamed M/A-COM Technology Solutions — to John Ocampo (GaAs Labs). That reconstituted, standalone MACOM went public on Nasdaq on March 15, 2012.
Post-IPO, MACOM expanded beyond its RF/microwave base with Mindspeed's analog assets (2013), BinOptics (2015) for indium-phosphide photonics, and in December 2015 Aeroflex Metelics from Cobham for approximately $37 million — the transaction that brought the historic Metelics microwave-diode fabs (Sunnyvale CA, Londonderry NH) and the Hi-Rel Components Lawrence, MA plant under a MACOM banner. In 2023 MACOM added the RF business of Wolfspeed (GaN-on-SiC). Today MACOM designs analog semiconductors for RF power, microwave, millimeter-wave, and photonic connectivity — it no longer produces MIL-PRF-19500 hermetic discretes internally.
QPL / QML-19500 status — historical and current
For MIL-PRF-19500 buyers, the important thing to understand is that the M/A-COM / Aeroflex Metelics MIL-PRF-19500 line is a discontinued MACOM listing. The Lawrence, Massachusetts facility that historically carried these qualifications entered the MACOM organization only briefly — from the December 2015 close of the Aeroflex Metelics deal until MACOM divested the Hi-Rel Components business to VPT Components in September 2018.
The Lawrence plant existed earlier as an independent Hi-Rel Components operation acquired by Aeroflex Metelics in February 2009 to expand its line of JAN-qualified diodes and transistors. Aeroflex identified the facility as DSCC-qualified against MIL-PRF-19500 slash sheets including /578 and /609, one arm of a three-site U.S. operation (Sunnyvale CA, Lawrence MA, Londonderry NH). The Sunnyvale and Londonderry fabs produced microwave RF discretes — PIN, Schottky, mixer, tunnel, step-recovery, comb-generator diodes — while Lawrence carried the JAN qualifications.
A separate 2016 transaction removed another Metelics piece: on October 28, 2016 MACOM sold the former Metelics Londonderry, NH point-contact diode product line to Massachusetts Bay Technologies (MBT) of Stoughton, MA. For a buyer holding a BOM calling out an M/A-COM, Aeroflex Metelics, or Metelics Hi-Rel JAN part: the part is genuine JAN-level product, the manufacturer-of-record on any recent lot is very likely VPT Components, and older date-coded inventory bearing the MACOM, Aeroflex, or Metelics markings continues to circulate as excess stock.
MIL-PRF-19500 quality levels — what JAN, JANTX, JANTXV, and JANS actually mean
MIL-PRF-19500 is the U.S. Department of Defense performance specification for hermetically-sealed discrete semiconductor devices — diodes, rectifiers, transistors, thyristors, SCRs, and TVS devices — administered by the DLA Land and Maritime office in Columbus, Ohio (the successor organization to DSCC-VQ). The specification defines a stack of ascending product-assurance levels indicated by the prefix on a part number:
| Prefix | Level name | What it adds | Typical use case |
|---|---|---|---|
| JAN | Joint Army-Navy | Baseline qualification against slash sheet, Group A/B/C conformance | Ground defense, ruggedized industrial |
| JANTX | JAN with eXtra Testing | Adds 168-hour burn-in and additional 100% electrical screening | Airborne, avionics, missile |
| JANTXV | JANTX with Visual inspection | Adds 100% pre-cap internal visual inspection | Higher-reliability avionics, tactical space |
| JANS | Joint Army-Navy-Space | Adds wafer lot acceptance, Group E conformance and full space screening | Launch vehicles, satellites, deep space |
| JANHC / JANKC | Chip / die-level | Unencapsulated die screening for downstream hybrid assembly | MIL-PRF-38534 hybrids, custom modules |
The legacy M/A-COM / Aeroflex Metelics Hi-Rel line was principally qualified at the JAN, JANTX, and JANTXV product-assurance levels — the same levels under which the same slash-sheet families are now qualified at VPT Components. On top of the individual part-type qualification (the older Qualified Products List, QPL), the DoD now operates a line-level certification model called the Qualified Manufacturers List (QML). Legacy M/A-COM entries on the historical QPL/QML-19500 were transferred to VPT Components with the September 2018 sale.
Legacy M/A-COM & Aeroflex Metelics MIL-PRF-19500 portfolio
The following is the portfolio historically carried by the M/A-COM Hi-Rel / Aeroflex Metelics Lawrence, MA operation and the two Metelics microwave fabs (Sunnyvale, CA and Londonderry, NH). In line with buyer intent, this page lists part families and slash-sheet families rather than individual JAN part numbers — specific part-number availability is confirmed on quote.
Temperature-compensated zener reference diodes
Hermetic hard-glass TC zener reference diodes were the flagship of the Lawrence Hi-Rel operation. Devices in this family cover precision reference voltages used in avionics analog signal chains, power-supply monitoring, and instrumentation, and were historically supplied at JAN, JANTX, and JANTXV product-assurance levels.
Hard-glass hermetic switching and signal diodes
Small-signal switching diodes, general-purpose signal diodes, and low-leakage devices in hard-glass hermetic axial packages, historically supplied against MIL-PRF-19500 slash sheets including the /578 and /609 series. Applications include analog gating, clamping, and low-current rectification in avionics and mission electronics.
Constant-current regulator diodes
Hermetic current regulator (CRD) diodes, JAN-qualified for constant-current biasing of analog reference nets, LED bias, and low-power regulation applications where a two-terminal current source is preferable to an active regulator.
Hermetic small-signal bipolar transistors
NPN and PNP small-signal bipolar transistors in hermetic metal-can packages, JAN-qualified for defense analog signal-chain use. Legacy M/A-COM / Hi-Rel Lawrence transistor part numbers frequently appear on older avionics and missile electronics BOMs.
Hermetic thyristors and silicon-controlled rectifiers (SCRs)
JAN-level hermetic thyristors and SCRs for power switching in ground-vehicle, ordnance-safe/arm, and avionics power sequencing applications.
RF PIN, Schottky, mixer, tunnel and step-recovery diodes
The Metelics Sunnyvale, CA fab specialized in silicon and GaAs microwave diodes: PIN diodes (switch, limiter, attenuator) for radar T/R modules and EW subsystems, Schottky-barrier mixer and detector diodes, tunnel and back-tunnel diodes, and step-recovery diodes (SRD) and comb generators for harmonic-generator and frequency-multiplier stages. While the RF diode lines were primarily sold on a commercial-hi-rel basis rather than under formal JAN qualification, many appear in defense radar and EW hardware and are actively sourced through the obsolete/excess channel.
Point-contact diodes (Londonderry, NH — sold to MBT in 2016)
The former Metelics Londonderry, NH point-contact diode line — classic low-barrier microwave detector diodes — was sold by MACOM to Massachusetts Bay Technologies (MBT) of Stoughton, MA on October 28, 2016. This line is now supported by MBT for legacy defense radar and countermeasure applications.
How Hybrid Electronics sources legacy M/A-COM JAN parts
Hybrid Electronics Corporation is a Sanford, Florida-based independent stocking distributor and sourcing agent, founded in 1981 as Knight Electronics. We are not an authorized distributor, agent, licensee, or franchised partner of MACOM Technology Solutions Holdings, Inc., of the former Aeroflex Metelics, Inc., or of VPT Components. What we do is help defense, aerospace, and industrial buyers close JAN-level BOMs when the part in question is a legacy M/A-COM or Aeroflex Metelics hermetic discrete that is no longer supported through the mainstream authorized channel.
Legacy M/A-COM / Aeroflex Metelics excess inventory
Older date-coded stock with M/A-COM, Aeroflex Metelics, or Metelics Hi-Rel markings. We source excess inventory from OEMs, CMs, and long-term storage stocks, and can typically provide date-coded traceability back to the Lawrence, Sunnyvale, or Londonderry plant of record.
Cross to VPT Components current production
Where the slash-sheet family is now supported by VPT Components under the transferred qualifications, we can quote current-production VPT parts as a form-fit-function equivalent alongside legacy MACOM inventory.
Slash-sheet and cross-reference sourcing
Have a MIL-PRF-19500 slash-sheet reference (for example /578 or /609) but not a settled manufacturer part number? We will quote MACOM/Metelics legacy and VPT current-production options together so you can pick the best fit for date-code, price, and lead-time.
Frequently asked questions
Is M/A-COM (MACOM) still on the MIL-PRF-19500 QPL?
No. MACOM Technology Solutions sold its Hi-Rel Components business — the former Aeroflex Metelics operation in Lawrence, Massachusetts that carried the MIL-PRF-19500 slash-sheet qualifications — to VPT Components (VPT, Inc.) in September 2018. VPT stated at the time it was committed to supporting the former MACOM slash sheet qualifications as previously listed on the QML. Current-production equivalents of those legacy M/A-COM JAN part families are today produced by VPT Components.
Where did M/A-COM's JAN diode and transistor line come from?
The hermetic MIL-PRF-19500 line came into MACOM via the December 2015 acquisition of Aeroflex Metelics from Cobham for approximately $37 million. Aeroflex itself had built the operation by acquiring Metelics and, in February 2009, adding the independent Hi-Rel Components business in Lawrence, MA — the facility Aeroflex identified as DSCC-qualified against MIL-PRF-19500 slash sheets including /578 and /609.
Who owns MACOM today and what does the company do?
MACOM Technology Solutions Holdings, Inc. is a publicly-traded U.S. semiconductor company (Nasdaq: MTSI), headquartered at 100 Chelmsford Street, Lowell, Massachusetts. It reconstituted as a standalone business in 2009 after Cobham sold the former M/A-COM commercial component business to John Ocampo (GaAs Labs), and completed its Nasdaq IPO on March 15, 2012. MACOM today designs analog semiconductors for RF, microwave, millimeter-wave and photonic applications — RF power (GaN), MMICs, optical drivers/TIAs — and no longer manufactures MIL-PRF-19500 hermetic discretes.
What legacy M/A-COM part families does Hybrid Electronics source?
Hybrid Electronics sources legacy M/A-COM / Aeroflex Metelics JAN, JANTX and JANTXV part families across excess and obsolete inventory: hermetic temperature-compensated zener references, hard-glass switching diodes, constant-current regulator diodes, small-signal bipolar transistors, hermetic thyristors and SCRs, and Metelics-heritage RF PIN, Schottky mixer, tunnel and step-recovery diodes. Send us your part number or slash-sheet reference for confirmation.
Is Hybrid Electronics an authorized MACOM distributor?
No. Hybrid Electronics is an independent stocking distributor and sourcing agent. We are not a distributor, reseller, agent, licensee, partner, or authorized service provider of MACOM Technology Solutions Holdings, Inc. All trademarks are property of their respective owners.
Trademark and affiliation notice. All company names, product names, and trademarks referenced on this page are the property of their respective owners. Hybrid Electronics Corporation is an independent stocking distributor and sourcing agent; we are not a distributor, reseller, agent, licensee, partner, or authorized service provider of MACOM Technology Solutions Holdings, Inc. unless expressly stated. Component sourcing is subject to availability and inspection. Hybrid Electronics does not sell counterfeit parts and does not offer repair services. MIL-PRF-19500 and JAN quality-level designations are administered by the U.S. Defense Logistics Agency (DLA).