As reported by The Washington Post and Bloomberg, dozens of suspected counterfeit electronics parts were revealed to have been installed on U.S. defense equipment from Raytheon, L-3 Communications, and Boeing -- including in aircraft deployed to Afghanistan. The Senate Armed Services Committee said it discovered counterfeit parts, usually originating from China, in at least seven aircraft, including the Lockheed Martin Corp. C-130J transport plane, Boeing P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol and L-3 27J Spartan transport, as well as in helicopter night vision systems and aircraft video display units.
Michigan Senator Carl Levin, the committee's chairman, said that none of the counterfeit findings were connected to instances of lives lost or dramatic failures causing an aircraft crash. Nonetheless, Levin stressed that the committee staff has “identified lots of places where, unless that correction was made, there was real fear that those kind of disastrous consequences could take place.” Company executives, a Defense Department official, government investigators and a representative from the semiconductor industry all testified before the committee about the "ticking time bomb" of suspect counterfeit electronics eventually ending up in weapons systems.
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