US Military Aircraft Made From Counterfeit Parts On Regular Basis

The US Military has spent hundreds of billions of dollars on various forms of aircraft and now a new report says more than one million parts used in those expensive machines are counterfeit.

The report was compiled by a key Senate committee after a year-long probe found 1,800 cases of fake parts inside of US military aircraft, most of which were imported from China.

According to the report at least 70% of the suspected one million counterfeit parts were traced back to China.

U.S. officials are blaming a weak supply chain for the failure to spot counterfeit parts.

According to the report the failure of any of those parts could lead to tragically high costs for the Pentagon.

Among some of the biggest aircraft to be discovered with counterfeit parts were the SH-60B helicopters used by the Navy and C-130J and C-27J cargo planes, as well as the Navy’s P-8A Poseidon plane.

Counterfeit parts were also imported from the UK and Canada but on a smaller scale.

The report also says that China has not attempted to shut down counterfeiters but instead has “tried to avoid scrutiny” regarding the issue. In fact the Chinese government has refused to approve Visas for inspectors who want to investigate the counterfeiting ring.

According to the report:

“Counterfeit electronic parts are sold openly in public markets in China.”

“Rather than acknowledging the problem and moving aggressively to shut down counterfeiters, the Chinese government has tried to avoid scrutiny.”

Blame can not be placed squarely on China however as the Government-Industry Data Exchange Program (GIDEP) and other US departments responsible for quality checks are said to be “woefully lacking” in their ability to spot problems. In fact from 2009 through 2010 the GIDEP only received 217 reports of suspected fake components.

Compounding the problem is the fact that the US Defense Department in some cases has actually reimbursed contracts for costs they incurred because of their own failure to spot fake components in their supply chains. Essentially company’s have no reason to stop and examine parts because they are being paid regardless of their own stupidity.

In the meantime the report praises the National Defense Authorization Act, signed into law on 31 December 2011 by President Barack Obama The NDAA specifically attempts to cut down on the number of counterfeit items by refusing to purchase components from unknown suppliers.

Perhaps having foreign powers build and assembly our military secrets isn’t the best idea in the world, especially if they are going to use knock-off components.