Recently, the US military department reported that thousands of counterfeit Chinese-made components were found in their military equipment.
Namely, counterfeit components for electronic devices. According to the Senate, the number of such components can be over 1 million, as it becomes increasingly difficult for the Pentagon to control its sources of supply.
As a result of an investigation that lasted several months, the US Senate Armed Forces Committee discovered about 1,800 cases of the use of counterfeit electronic parts in US military equipment. In general, according to rough estimates, the amount of counterfeit used in the US military is over 1 million units. These are the results of the investigation carried out on Tuesday at the hearings of the committee were presented.
Counterfeit components were also reportedly found on Lockheed Martin C-130J and Boeing C-17 military aircraft, a Boeing CH-46 Sea Knight helicopter and a THAAD air defense system. In cases where the committee was able to find suppliers from whom counterfeit components were purchased, over 70% are counterfeit from China, 20% from Canada and the UK. The members of the committee believe that it is in these countries that there are points of sale of counterfeit parts from China.
Photographs from the electronics market in Shenzhen were shown - plastic and cardboard boxes containing microcircuits. At these hearings, one of the witnesses told the committee that during his visit to the market, he saw how the Chinese washed old or defective microcircuits in the river, dried them in the sun, and then gave them for resale to wholesalers. The same thing that happened in the end, in turn, can successfully pass control at the manufacturing plant, but, in fact, it is extremely unreliable and short-lived, say the US Senate Committee.
Karl Levin, Senator and Chairman of the US Armed Forces Committee, left his comments on the results of the investigation: "We must not allow the national security of our country to depend on electronic waste that Chinese counterfeit manufacturers have picked up in the trash heap." Further, the Pentagon spokesman stressed that the information that the committee received is "just the tip of the iceberg." So far, counterfeit parts "have not been the result of loss of life or failure to fulfill military missions." Although, according to Mr. Levin, "in view of the huge flow of counterfeit electronics, it has become very difficult to be firmly sure" that the US Army soldiers will not suffer in emergency conditions due to poor quality components. There was no Chinese representative at the hearings - the committee invited the Chinese ambassador, but he did not want to come or even send someone instead of himself who could speak on his behalf.
The experts of the committee argue that those microcircuits used in military equipment must be resistant to high temperatures and humidity, and Chinese counterfeit can fail in critical situations. Senator John McCain, also a member of the US Senate Committee on the US Armed Forces, noted: mission.
An employee of the Chinese Embassy in the United States, Wang Baodong, in response to the statement of the American committee, assured that the PRC government is a supporter of a "consistent and unambiguous position" in relation to counterfeit products and declared the need to combat it.
In turn, Senator Karl Levin accused the Chinese authorities of connivance in the production of counterfeit goods in the city of Shenzhen, as well as "shamelessly open the market for such goods." He said that the representatives of the committee were denied Chinese visas due to the fact that their investigation may contain "very important information", as a result - "will harm the development of US-China relations."
The existence of the problem of counterfeit components in US military equipment became known several years earlier. Back in 2008, the US Department of Commerce discovered about 7.5 thousand counterfeit electronic components in military equipment. And in 2005, the Pentagon recorded cases of equipment failure due to counterfeit parts. Most experts believe that the decision made by the administration of President Bill Clinton to cut military spending was a consequence of the large amount of counterfeit in American military equipment. In the 90s, the US military department was advised to purchase existing components, and not engage in their independent development.
