This post is also available in:
עברית (Hebrew)
The entire homeland security sector relies heavily on sophisticated electronic systems. Is there a danger they will fail at the moment of truth due to having fake parts?
Experts believe those systems will fail due to their counterfeit parts.
The defense and aviation industries have become familiar with this problem years ago. For example, a special data relay system was installed in a classified missiles developed by a giant US corporation. The missile was transported to a range in Nevada where, after numerous preparations, it was launched. Three seconds after the missile left its launcher it twirled and fell right into the ground. Five million dollars down the desert.
Subsequent tests revealed the following surprising fact: two central electronic circuits in the missile’s communication system were counterfeit. Microscopic tests of similar parts that had also been installed in communication systems about to be designed in additional missiles – turned out to be counterfeit as well.
The problem surfaces over a decade ago, but we are currently witnessing a new wave. It turns out the market is flooded with fake electronic part. They are being bought by both large companies and small ones. Then, they install them in the systems they provide to manufacturers of major weapons systems, and result are often serious.
A report by a special senate committee revealed the following troubling and surprising facts.
In 2009 and 2010, there were 1800 known cases of using counterfeit electronic parts in systems designed for the various US armed forces. In total, this amounted to one million fake parts aboard aircraft, helicopters, missiles and marine vessels.
The committee ruled that 70% of the counterfeit electronic parts originated in China. The senate committee examined the situation in the armed forces alone, but this problem is pervasive in the passenger aircraft sector as well. In short, counterfeit electronic parts have become a global epidemic on a massive scale.
Since the report was issued, all the estimates refer to a “major” increase in this phenomenon.
The second part will air the same time tomorrow and will focus on the reasons and circumstances for counterfeit parts in critical systems.
iHLS editor-in-chief
