Counterfeit Chinese Parts In US Military Craft

[Sir Winston Churchill]

Counterfeit electronic parts from China are "flooding" into critical U.S. military systems, including special operations helicopters and surveillance planes, and are putting the nation's troops at risk, according to a new U.S. Senate committee report.
A year-long investigation conducted by the Senate Armed Services Committee found more than one million suspected counterfeit parts made their way into the Department of Defense's supply chain and were bound for use by "critical" military systems, according to the 70-plus-page document released Monday. In addition to Navy helicopters and surveillance planes, the parts were slated to be put into the Air Force's newest cargo planes.
"The failure of a single electronic part can leave a soldier, sailor, airman, or Marine vulnerable at the worst possible time," the report says. "Unfortunately, a flood of counterfeit electronic parts has made it a lot harder to prevent that from happening."
Chinese companies were identified as the "primary source" of the counterfeit goods and the Chinese government was criticized for its alleged disinterest in cracking down on counterfeiting there. The report said that Chinese companies take discarded electronic parts from all over the world, remove any identifying marks, wash and refurbish them, and then resell them as brand-new – a practice that poses a "significant risk" to the performance of U.S. military systems.
But the committee also pointed a finger at the Pentagon and U.S.-based defense contractors that rely on "hundreds of unvetted independent distributors."

Full article: http://gma.yahoo.com/counterfeit-chi...opstories.html


Pretty sad if you ask me. I always knew the Chinese plan for taking us out was to slowly widdle away at us with our permission. They invade our culture with endless amounts of Chinese restaurants and buffets worked by Korean slaves (CURSE YOU PANDA EXPRESS!), they poison our dogs with lead in their food, and now they are sabotaging our military might on our own dollar.


Well played China, well played.

[removeduser_487563287433]

Read this. I can't even understand how it can be possible.

[Sphere]

Read this. I can't even understand how it can be possible.

Serious mistakes and ineptitude in US Department of Defense procurement process? Nah, couldn't be true.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

The DoD spent $2.4 Billion developing and designing a presidential helicopter that was never actually built because the cost for a fleet of 3 helicopters had risen to $11.4 Billion. It wasn't even a from scratch design, it was a modification of an existing military helicopter.

That's a quarter of the entire Defense budget of the UK to modify 3 helicopters. I wish I was joking.

[alexanderswift]

Interesting read, are the parts proven to actually be inferior?

[removeduser_487563287433]

Not as I understand. But come on - the proof of that would likely be somebody's unnecessary death.

[alexanderswift]

Not as I understand. But come on - the proof of that would likely be somebody's unnecessary death.

Well of course, I was just wondering if there were any actual examples of the parts malfunctioning. Better safe than sorry and all that.

[magpie]

Its just business.
U.S. defence contract suppliers out source to sub contracter,s for low cost supplies of components.
The finished article is passed on to the U.S. military at top dollar and lots of money is made. It keeps the shareholder,s happy.

[BSZ]

As I have understood it from another article, the parts themselves are pretty much just complete copies. The problem with that is that the individual parts are supposedly not as rigorously safety-tested, but when the parts work, they should be pretty much identical...

[alexanderswift]

I wonder what they're gonna do with all the counterfeit parts... Probably send them to Israel heh.

[caratacus]

Given the scale of military spending and the scale of the problem of counterfeit parts especially in the automotive industry, which is are estimated to cost the industry billions, this article isn't surprising

The problem has become such that when you get a car part from an authorised car dealership, you can't be entirely confident that it is a genuine part or a copy. Whether they are inferior, I guess may vary as they aren't tested but you certainly aren't buying them at a reduced rate. The use of such parts in this context is worrying and needs a lot greater scrutiny. Problem is when there is an incentive to make big profits, suppliers will ignore checking procedures unless its mandatory and unless the Chinese authorities show greater diligence on the issue of counterfeit goods, this is going to be a problem for some time to come.

[Admiral Piett]

It was the Cold War with Russia, it will be the magnetic war with China.

[IZob]

Full article: http://gma.yahoo.com/counterfeit-chi...opstories.html


Pretty sad if you ask me. I always knew the Chinese plan for taking us out was to slowly widdle away at us with our permission. They invade our culture with endless amounts of Chinese restaurants and buffets worked by Korean slaves (CURSE YOU PANDA EXPRESS!), they poison our dogs with lead in their food, and now they are sabotaging our military might on our own dollar.


Well played China, well played.

Made in China. Not really surprised.

[Rolling Thunder]

Some people need a few fraud convictions hung around their neck.

[mrmouth]

This actually isnt anything new. This is something other countries have been dealing with for more than a decade - particularly Japan. Seeing as we get a lot of stock from Japan itself, this has likely been an issue for us just as long. And any country (which is just about every country) that is sourcing parts from Asia, almost certainly has the same problem.

The thing is, China is perfectly capable of manufacturing great quality widgets. When standards are in place, you can save a lot and get something just as good from China. The only issue is that enforcing quality control on that scale is a losing battle.

[Heinz Guderian]

The Senate Armed Services Comm puts out this report. Everyone gets scared. The government is encouraged to buy from more expensive sources (and usually American). People like Boeing, Lockheed, Raytheon have another good year.

[mrmouth]

The Senate Armed Services Comm puts out this report. Everyone gets scared. The government is encouraged to buy from more expensive sources (and usually American). People like Boeing, Lockheed, Raytheon have another good year.

These are small electronics and other parts. Mostly capacitors, bushings, high strength screws and fasteners, etc. Not the stuff that the companies you mention actually manufacture in large numbers. Of which a jet of helicopter could have many thousands if not millions.

The US military and aerospace companies have procurement people that actually live in places like Tokyo and scour the electronics neighborhoods of these tech cities. You'd be amazed at the stuff they sell that never makes it to major suppliers they typically deal with.

[Exarch]

The Senate Armed Services Comm puts out this report. Everyone gets scared. The government is encouraged to buy from more expensive sources (and usually American). People like Boeing, Lockheed, Raytheon have another good year.

China makes a lot of really good stuff and a lot of really crap stuff. Someone somewhere along the supply chain was just really dumb and bought the crap stuff - or more likely they probably just figured they could turn a quick buck by buying the crap stuff and calling it the good stuff.

Complete non-event that's been unnecessarily magnified by both sides (the Chinese side being radio hosts et al. laughing en mass at American ineptitude). I thought China denying the investigators visas was quality trolling to be frank.

this,
y'know, i didn't realise how desperate the Pentagon/military industrial complex was when it came to Obama's cutting of the defence budget, but this is starting to get ridiculous. Fake outrage over a non story?
seems they're not pulling any punches in this regard; seems all that black bag funding took a hammering from the GFC as well...

[ivan_the_terrible]

The Senate Armed Services Comm puts out this report. Everyone gets scared. The government is encouraged to buy from more expensive sources (and usually American). People like Boeing, Lockheed, Raytheon have another good year.

But Boeing, Lockheed and Raytheon are corporations, not people... or are they.....?

[Robin de Bodemloze]

China makes a lot of really good stuff and a lot of really crap stuff. Someone somewhere along the supply chain was just really dumb and bought the crap stuff - or more likely they probably just figured they could turn a quick buck by buying the crap stuff and calling it the good stuff.

Complete non-event that's been unnecessarily magnified by both sides (the Chinese side being radio hosts et al. laughing en mass at American ineptitude). I thought China denying the investigators visas was quality trolling to be frank.

[mrmouth]

Really very little intelligence on display on this forum anymore. I think I'm about done. It's liking typing for the of it.