Chinese Counterfeit Parts Proliferate in U.S. WeaponsNovember 11, 2011
A congressional investigation revealed as many as 1,800 instances of counterfeit electronics in U.S. weapons systems, according to an article in The Washington Post. “We cannot allow our national security to depend on electronic scrap salvaged from trash heaps by Chinese counterfeiters,” said the Senate Armed Services Committee chairman Carl Levin, a Democrat from Michigan. The committee's probe based the results on records from 10 defense contractors, according to the Post. The findings are “just the tip of the iceberg.” The total number of counterfeits is likely closer to one million parts, according to the article. When investigators tracked the counterfeit parts back to their source, the trail led straight to China in more than 70% of the cases, the Post reported. Almost 20% were traced to the United Kingdom and Canada, long considered transit points for parts from China. These parts are produced in China at the street level with scavengers burning raw material off old circuit boards, cleaning them at local water sources and drying them on the pavement, the Post reported citing senate staffers. While these parts might pass initial tests by the manufacturers, their long-term reliability is suspect. “We can’t tolerate the risk of a ballistic missile interceptor failing to hit its target, a helicopter pilot unable to fire his missiles or any other mission failure because of a counterfeit part,” said Senator John McCain, a Republican from Arizona. Both Levin and McCain said they will use the power of the 2012 Defense Authorization Act to extract higher standards from defense contractors. They plan to modify acquisition rules so contractors will have to pay to replace counterfeit parts, according to the Post. This may lead them to adopt stricter standards from their suppliers. |
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