Senators Urge China to Help Track Source of Fake Weapons PartsJune 17, 2011

 

The Senate Armed Services Committee said that China’s government is refusing to help it investigate how Chinese companies sold counterfeit parts for high-tech weapons systems, The Washington Times reported.

The committee, led by Carl Levin, a Michigan Democrat, said that its investigation revealed that U.S. Defense contractors and government agencies have traced the fake parts to Shenzhen, in the Guangdong province.

China has rejected requests for committee investigators to visit Shenzhen to dig further into the fake parts controversy. Trade in counterfeit parts “takes place openly in that city and in that province,” Mr. Levin said, according to the article. He added that the Chinese said they would look into arranging the visit if a Chinese official could be present during the investigation. “That is a non-starter, somebody looking at our staff while they’re interviewing people who are relevant to an investigation.”

A report published in March 2010 by the Government Accountability Office, a politically independent investigative congressional unit, said that global suppliers provide about four million parts worth $94 billion in systems used by the Pentagon, according to the article. These parts include such diverse items as missile guidance electronics, fasteners used on aircrafts and materials used in body armor.

“Counterfeit parts have the potential to cause a serious disruption to DoD supply chains, delay ongoing missions, and even affect the integrity of weapon systems,” the report said. The counterfeits have also made their way into microprocessors bought by the Air Force for F-15 operational flight-control computers.

Levin said that in 2010, the Commerce Department published the results of survey of about 400 companies and organizations in the Pentagon's supply chain. “Those who were surveyed overwhelmingly cited China as the country suspected of being the source of the counterfeit electronic parts,” said Levine, according to the article.