Chinese counterfeit parts found in U.S. weapons - The Washington Post
By William Wan and Jason Ukman, Tuesday, November 8, 6:22 AM
U.S. officials say a problem that has long plagued luxury handbag makers such as Gucci and Louis Vuitton is now afflicting the Pentagons high-end weapons systems: cheap Chinese counterfeits.
A months-long congressional probe found at least 1,800 cases of counterfeit electronics in U.S. weapons, with the total number of suspect parts exceeding 1 million.
The results of the investigation, conducted by the Senate Armed Services Committee, are to be presented at a hearing Tuesday, where senators plan to grill defense contractors about lapses in monitoring their parts supply chain.
We cannot allow our national security to depend on electronic scrap salvaged from trash heaps by Chinese counterfeiters, said committee Chairman Carl Levin (D-Mich.). He called the reports findings based on records from 10 defense contractors and their testers just the tip of the iceberg.
In more than 70 percent of the cases in which investigators traced parts back to their source, the trail led to China. And nearly 20 percent of the remainder were traced to Britain and Canada resale points for counterfeit Chinese parts, Senate staffers said.
Chinese Embassy spokesman Wang Baodong said that his governments position on striking down on fake products is clear and consistent. He said Chinas policy is aimed to ensure that commodities of safety and quality are provided to the consumers.
In the past, the embassy also has said that the issue of investigating counterfeit parts was a matter of Chinas judicial sovereignty.
Fake electronic parts often are produced in China by burning raw material off old circuit boards, washing the components in sometimes-polluted rivers and drying them on city sidewalks, Senate investigators said. They said the resulting parts are unreliable over the long term, even if they pass initial factory testing by manufacturers.
We cant 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 Sen. John McCain (Ariz.), the ranking Republican on the Armed Services Committee.
McCain and Levin said they intend to use the 2012 Defense Authorization Act to modify acquisition provisions so that the onus is on contractors to pay for replacing such parts, with the hope that they will adopt stricter policies with their suppliers.
The lawmakers also threatened to seek the inspection of shipments of all Chinese electronic parts for military and commercial use at U.S. ports if China does not take steps to curb the flow of counterfeit goods. The costs of those inspections, they said, would be borne by the shippers.
In a briefing Monday, Levin angrily accused Beijing of allowing a brazenly open market for counterfeit parts in Shenzhen, Guangdong province. He noted that committee staff members were stopped in Hong Kong and refused visas into China by officials who warned that their investigation was sensitive and could be damaging to U.S.-China relations.
Levin said that Chinas authoritarian rulers could stop the counterfeiting if they want to stop it.
Counterfeit electronics parts are a well-known scourge of the military supply chain, and China a well-known source. A 2010 study by the Commerce Department said that China was nearly five times more likely than any other country to be identified as the source of suspected counterfeit goods by manufacturers, distributors and others involved in the supply of weaponry to the Defense Department.
The recycled materials used in those parts are often sold overseas through a complex web of suppliers, contractors and subcontractors. And the use of counterfeit parts, Senate staffers said, has at times resulted in millions of dollars in waste, with U.S. taxpayers footing the bill when contractors discover the need for replacements.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world...n-us-weapons/2011/11/07/gIQAQGh7wM_story.html
Chinese 'are flooding Pentagon supply chain with counterfeit electronic parts and putting U.S. military at risk'
By Associated Press
Last updated at 5:16 AM on 8th November 2011
China is dumping counterfeit electronic parts into the Pentagon's supply chain, two senior lawmakers alleged on Monday.
Two Senators, John McCain, Republican-Arizona, and Carl Levin, Democrat-Michigan, said the counterfeits are putting U.S. troops at risk and undercutting the American economy.
One day before a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on the issue, the Senators offered details of the panel's ongoing investigation.
At risk: Senate Armed Services Committee investigators found suspect electronic parts were installed on the Marines' CH-46 helicopter
They described a deceptive process in which parts are burned off old circuit boards, washed in rivers, dried on streets and sanded down to remove identifying marks.
The salvaged parts, which can look brand new, are sold on the Internet or openly in the markets, the Associated Press reports.
The panel's investigators reviewed more than 100,000 pages of Defense Department documents and material from more than 70 companies.
They found about 1,800 cases of suspect counterfeit electronics being sold to the Pentagon.
The total number of parts in these cases topped one million.
Placed in danger: The Air Force's C-17 was part of the counterfeit parts probe
Placed in danger: The Air Force's C-17 was part of the counterfeit parts probe
The committee hearing will examine three cases in which suspect counterfeit parts from China were installed in military systems made by Raytheon, L-3 Communications and Boeing.
Levin, the committee chairman, told reporters at a Capitol Hill news conference: 'Now, a million parts is surely a huge number.
'But I want to just repeat this: We've only looked at a portion of the defense supply chain. So those 1,800 cases are just the tip of the iceberg.'
The investigators found that counterfeit or suspect electronic parts were installed or delivered to the military for several weapons systems.
They include military aircraft such as the Air Force's C-17 and the Marine Corps' CH-46 helicopter, as well as the Army's Theatre High-Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) missile defense system.
The lawmakers indicated they would push for amendments to the defense bill to limit counterfeit electronics in the supply chain.
Compromised? The Army's Theatre High-Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) missile defense system
Compromised? The Army's Theatre High-Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) missile defense system
Mr McCain, the top Republican on the committee, said: '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.'
Investigators traced more than 70 per cent of the cases to China.
Nearly 20 per cent led to the United Kingdom and Canada, the lawmakers said.
They said material in Hong Kong was trucked to cities in mainland China, specifically to the counterfeiting district of Shantou in Guangdong Province.
Mr Levin said China could stop the deception if it wanted to.
'And they're going to have to stop it or else they're going to pay a heavy price if we start inspecting all of their parts that are coming into this country.
'Because the only way to separate the wheat from the chaff is through inspections, if they keep sending us chaff,' he said.
The committee is expected to hear from Defense Department officials and company executives.
Placed in danger: The Air Force's C-17 was part of the counterfeit parts probe
Compromised? The Army's Theatre High-Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) missile defense system
Read more: Chinese counterfeit electronic parts 'are putting U.S. military at risk' | Mail Online
Read more: Chinese counterfeit electronic parts 'are putting U.S. military at risk' | Mail Online
By William Wan and Jason Ukman, Tuesday, November 8, 6:22 AM
U.S. officials say a problem that has long plagued luxury handbag makers such as Gucci and Louis Vuitton is now afflicting the Pentagons high-end weapons systems: cheap Chinese counterfeits.
A months-long congressional probe found at least 1,800 cases of counterfeit electronics in U.S. weapons, with the total number of suspect parts exceeding 1 million.
The results of the investigation, conducted by the Senate Armed Services Committee, are to be presented at a hearing Tuesday, where senators plan to grill defense contractors about lapses in monitoring their parts supply chain.
We cannot allow our national security to depend on electronic scrap salvaged from trash heaps by Chinese counterfeiters, said committee Chairman Carl Levin (D-Mich.). He called the reports findings based on records from 10 defense contractors and their testers just the tip of the iceberg.
In more than 70 percent of the cases in which investigators traced parts back to their source, the trail led to China. And nearly 20 percent of the remainder were traced to Britain and Canada resale points for counterfeit Chinese parts, Senate staffers said.
Chinese Embassy spokesman Wang Baodong said that his governments position on striking down on fake products is clear and consistent. He said Chinas policy is aimed to ensure that commodities of safety and quality are provided to the consumers.
In the past, the embassy also has said that the issue of investigating counterfeit parts was a matter of Chinas judicial sovereignty.
Fake electronic parts often are produced in China by burning raw material off old circuit boards, washing the components in sometimes-polluted rivers and drying them on city sidewalks, Senate investigators said. They said the resulting parts are unreliable over the long term, even if they pass initial factory testing by manufacturers.
We cant 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 Sen. John McCain (Ariz.), the ranking Republican on the Armed Services Committee.
McCain and Levin said they intend to use the 2012 Defense Authorization Act to modify acquisition provisions so that the onus is on contractors to pay for replacing such parts, with the hope that they will adopt stricter policies with their suppliers.
The lawmakers also threatened to seek the inspection of shipments of all Chinese electronic parts for military and commercial use at U.S. ports if China does not take steps to curb the flow of counterfeit goods. The costs of those inspections, they said, would be borne by the shippers.
In a briefing Monday, Levin angrily accused Beijing of allowing a brazenly open market for counterfeit parts in Shenzhen, Guangdong province. He noted that committee staff members were stopped in Hong Kong and refused visas into China by officials who warned that their investigation was sensitive and could be damaging to U.S.-China relations.
Levin said that Chinas authoritarian rulers could stop the counterfeiting if they want to stop it.
Counterfeit electronics parts are a well-known scourge of the military supply chain, and China a well-known source. A 2010 study by the Commerce Department said that China was nearly five times more likely than any other country to be identified as the source of suspected counterfeit goods by manufacturers, distributors and others involved in the supply of weaponry to the Defense Department.
The recycled materials used in those parts are often sold overseas through a complex web of suppliers, contractors and subcontractors. And the use of counterfeit parts, Senate staffers said, has at times resulted in millions of dollars in waste, with U.S. taxpayers footing the bill when contractors discover the need for replacements.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world...n-us-weapons/2011/11/07/gIQAQGh7wM_story.html
Chinese 'are flooding Pentagon supply chain with counterfeit electronic parts and putting U.S. military at risk'
By Associated Press
Last updated at 5:16 AM on 8th November 2011
China is dumping counterfeit electronic parts into the Pentagon's supply chain, two senior lawmakers alleged on Monday.
Two Senators, John McCain, Republican-Arizona, and Carl Levin, Democrat-Michigan, said the counterfeits are putting U.S. troops at risk and undercutting the American economy.
One day before a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on the issue, the Senators offered details of the panel's ongoing investigation.
At risk: Senate Armed Services Committee investigators found suspect electronic parts were installed on the Marines' CH-46 helicopter
They described a deceptive process in which parts are burned off old circuit boards, washed in rivers, dried on streets and sanded down to remove identifying marks.
The salvaged parts, which can look brand new, are sold on the Internet or openly in the markets, the Associated Press reports.
The panel's investigators reviewed more than 100,000 pages of Defense Department documents and material from more than 70 companies.
They found about 1,800 cases of suspect counterfeit electronics being sold to the Pentagon.
The total number of parts in these cases topped one million.
Placed in danger: The Air Force's C-17 was part of the counterfeit parts probe
Placed in danger: The Air Force's C-17 was part of the counterfeit parts probe
The committee hearing will examine three cases in which suspect counterfeit parts from China were installed in military systems made by Raytheon, L-3 Communications and Boeing.
Levin, the committee chairman, told reporters at a Capitol Hill news conference: 'Now, a million parts is surely a huge number.
'But I want to just repeat this: We've only looked at a portion of the defense supply chain. So those 1,800 cases are just the tip of the iceberg.'
The investigators found that counterfeit or suspect electronic parts were installed or delivered to the military for several weapons systems.
They include military aircraft such as the Air Force's C-17 and the Marine Corps' CH-46 helicopter, as well as the Army's Theatre High-Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) missile defense system.
The lawmakers indicated they would push for amendments to the defense bill to limit counterfeit electronics in the supply chain.
Compromised? The Army's Theatre High-Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) missile defense system
Compromised? The Army's Theatre High-Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) missile defense system
Mr McCain, the top Republican on the committee, said: '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.'
Investigators traced more than 70 per cent of the cases to China.
Nearly 20 per cent led to the United Kingdom and Canada, the lawmakers said.
They said material in Hong Kong was trucked to cities in mainland China, specifically to the counterfeiting district of Shantou in Guangdong Province.
Mr Levin said China could stop the deception if it wanted to.
'And they're going to have to stop it or else they're going to pay a heavy price if we start inspecting all of their parts that are coming into this country.
'Because the only way to separate the wheat from the chaff is through inspections, if they keep sending us chaff,' he said.
The committee is expected to hear from Defense Department officials and company executives.
Placed in danger: The Air Force's C-17 was part of the counterfeit parts probe
Compromised? The Army's Theatre High-Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) missile defense system
Read more: Chinese counterfeit electronic parts 'are putting U.S. military at risk' | Mail Online
Read more: Chinese counterfeit electronic parts 'are putting U.S. military at risk' | Mail Online
