US probe into fake aircraft parts casts shadow on India deals .

[Zebra]

Manu Pubby : New Delhi, Wed May 23 2012,

A US investigation that found suspect counterfeit electronic parts in military aircraft will have repercussions for India with two programmes that the Air Force contracted coming under the scanner. A year-long investigation by the US Senate has pointed to suspected bogus parts — amounting to over a million — in C 130 J transport aircraft as well as the test aircraft of the P 8 Poseiden series of maritime surveillance planes.

Both these aircraft have been contracted by India in the past few years under the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) pact with the US. The Air Force already has six C 130 Js in service and eight P 8 maritime aircraft are likely to be inducted starting next year.

While the report does not reveal which particular planes have been found to have suspect parts, the investigation has pointed to irregularities in over 1,800 cases. This amounts to over a million suspect parts. More worryingly, most of the suspected electronic parts — ranging from chips in the display systems of the C 130 Js to components in the ice detection system of the P 8 — have originated from China.

The Senate investigation also found that at least one per cent of the suspect parts originated from India. "The investigation's findings point to China as the dominant source of counterfeit electronic parts and the Committee concluded that the Chinese government has failed to take steps to stop counterfeiting operations that are carried out openly in that country," the report notes.

The report has underlined that deficiencies in the supply chain of manufacturers led to the suspect parts finding their way on combat aircraft and that this can put the lives of personnel manning the systems to risk. In one particular case that was investigated, a Shenzehn-based company supplied 84,000 suspect parts to manufacturers that were fitted on to aircraft.

While in most cases, the suspect parts do not put the aircraft directly into danger, they affect critical systems that can make the difference between life and death during combat. In the C 130 J aircraft for example, the report points to suspect parts in the display system manufactured by L 3 Display Systems. These display units indicate the health of the aircraft — from engine status and location to fuel use and missile warning alerts.

In the P 8 aircraft that are being procured for maritime surveillance as well as anti-submarine and anti-ship operations, suspected bogus parts were found in the ice-detection system. This system is critical as formation of excessive ice on control surfaces can lead to the loss of an aircraft.

It is still not clear whether the detailed findings of the committee have been shared with the IAF yet. The investigation was started by the Senate Armed Services Committee in March last year. Other than the systems that India operates, suspect parts were also found on Special Operations Force A/MH-6M choppers, the C 5 transport aircraft and THAAD missile defence systems.

:: Bharat-Rakshak.com - Indian Military News Headlines ::

:shocked:

 

[hit&run]

And these parts are getting into India eventually. What a sham situation this has become for us; relying on so called the best military hardware provider. Americans may get their acts together to fix this problem for themselves but for country like India where pessimist bureaucracy and snailish decision making is deep seated one can say the damage is already done and solution is farther.

One may expect few be-fooling statements from parties involved that the Chinese parts in Indian C-17s et al have no serious implication on data link and security etc. The irony is that we were refusing to connect to USA's data links but have ended up having Chinese bugs from USA.

 

[Zebra]

China fake parts 'used in US military equipment'

22 May 2012

Vast numbers of counterfeit Chinese electronic parts are being used in US military equipment, a key Senate committee has reported.

A year-long probe found 1,800 cases of fake parts in US military aircraft, the Senate Armed Services Committee said.

More than 70% of an estimated one million suspect parts were traced back to China, the report said.

It blamed weaknesses in the US supply chain, and China's failure to curb the counterfeit market.

The failure of a key part could pose safety and national security risks and lead to higher costs for the Pentagon, the committee said.

US servicemen rely on a variety of "small, incredibly sophisticated electronic components" found in night vision systems, radios and GPS devices and the failure of a single part could put a soldier at risk, the report said.

It highlighted suspect counterfeit parts in SH-60B helicopters used by the Navy, in C-130J and C-27J cargo planes and in the Navy's P-8A Poseidon plane.

After China, the UK and Canada were found to be the next-largest source countries for fake parts.

'Avoiding scrutiny'

The committee criticised China for failing to shut down counterfeit manufacturers and said that committee staff wanting to travel to China for the investigation had not been granted visas.

"Counterfeit electronic parts are sold openly in public markets in China," the report said.

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

But the report said that use of Department of Defense programmes such as the Government-Industry Data Exchange Program (GIDEP), designed to log suspected fake parts, were "woefully lacking".

Between 2009 and 2010 the GIDEP only received 217 reports relating to suspected fake counterfeit components, the majority of which were filed by just six companies, it said. Only 13 reports came from government agencies.

The report also said that in some cases the US defence department had reimbursed contractors for the costs they incurred as a result of their failure to spot fake components in their own supply chain - giving companies no incentive to weed out counterfeits themselves.

But it praised the National Defense Authorization Act, signed into law on 31 December 2011 by President Barack Obama, which aims to stop counterfeit parts from entering the country and would cut down on sourcing components from unknown suppliers.

The report's focus on China comes as the US is beginning the task of "pivoting" its defence strategy towards the Asia-Pacific region.

The Pentagon is also preparing to absorb about $450bn (£285bn) of cuts over the next decade.

But it could face cutbacks of a further $500bn if mandatory across-the-board spending cuts come into effect at the end of 2012, after Congress failed to reach a deficit reduction plan last year.

BBC News - China fake parts 'used in US military equipment'

 

[venkat]

What is the quality control section doing? If the part is bogus ,first of all it will not do the intended functions.so it will get rejected in the initial stages of testing itself.all military avionics are subjected to environmental tests like low temperature tests,high temp test, altitude and humidity and vibration tests as as part of production acceptance test procedures. if part is fake it will not pass these tests.usually a commercial grade part which works only for 0 to 70 deg C temp with commercial grade plastic package instead of hermetically sealed ceramic package or extended plastic package will be printed with a mil grade part no.s and sold as military grade component.....but such components will fail in the initial stages of fabrication itself....how chinese companies are are duping and cheating is they take some IC package with garbage inside and nicely print what ever part you have ordered for. and sell it in the international market...

 

[shuvo@y2k10]

this is the problem of importing defence goods from usa,russia etc

 

[p2prada]

It could be fake news.