Some members of the Senate Armed Services Committee have been blaming China for allegedly sending counterfeit electronics to the U.S. for incorporation into military systems. Their questions and comments suggest that Chinese "agents" are somehow infiltrating the U.S. military and incorporating counterfeit components into key U.S. military systems. I believe that this blame is slightly misplaced.

My team at the CALCE Electronic Products and Systems Center, University of Maryland, is routinely asked to investigate counterfeits electronics. We have found that the responsibility for counterfeiting often lies with unauthorized American suppliers who commission the counterfeiting of parts from businesses in foreign countries, including, but not limited to, the Philippines, Vietnam, China and Thailand.

Senator John McCain, the top Republican on the Senate panel to assess the counterfeiting problem, asserted that "The Chinese government can stop it." However, the root cause of the problem is not the Chinese, but rather the U.S. contractors who bought these parts from U.S. unauthorized parts distributors (brokers) who commissioned the counterfeiting of the parts for sale to the military contractors. Furthermore, these commissioned, "made to order" parts are also coming from other foreign countries (and the U.S.) that are willing to re-label parts for a profit.

Counterfeit electronics have indeed been incorporated into many weapon systems, as well as into commercial avionics systems. In fact, the Senate committee's investigation identified about 1,800 cases of suspect counterfeit electronics being sold to the U.S. military. The total number of such parts is apparently greater than 1 million.

For example, Raytheon Missile Systems purchased some 1,500 Intel flash memory (semiconductor) devices for incorporation into the Harm Targeting System (HTS), which is installed in F-16 fighter planes to identify and track enemy radar systems. Raytheon purchased those parts from a U.S. broker, rather than from the original device manufacturer or its authorized distributor. This is analogous to purchasing a Gucci handbag on Canal Street in New York City or across the street from the Rosslyn Metro in Washington D.C.; it is very likely to be counterfeit. Without checking the devices ahead of time, Raytheon installed those Intel chips on 28 circuit boards destined for HTS modules. The military can be grateful that the boards immediately failed, because Raytheon had to examine the boards to determine the root cause of the problem and only then did they learn that the parts were all counterfeit. Imagine if the boards worked (for a while) and were installed in a weapon system!

The broker that Raytheon bought the parts from, VisionTech Components Inc., has since been charged with the selling of counterfeit parts, and the guilty parties have been sentenced. During the legal process, it was learned that VisionTech personnel had the ability to alter the labels and identities of electronic parts, and actually gave instructions to foreign entities on how this should be accomplished and how such parts should be shipped to the U.S.  In other words, the parts were commissioned by a U.S. company. In fact, the parts were not necessarily "made/fabricated" in China, but were "altered" (mostly cosmetic changes) in China and possibly in the U.S.

VisionTech is not the only U.S. parts broker that has "duped" military contractors by selling them counterfeit electronics. Another broker, Red Hat (also called Red Hot) Distributors, operating within the borders of the US, had its own component alteration equipment to make cosmetic changes. My team at the CALCE Electronic Products and Systems Center has encountered nearly 30 major counterfeit parts this year alone (most of which the U.S. military is unaware of). It appears that most of these parts came from unauthorized distributors that were highly suspect.

The fact that foreign entities have the ability to re-label parts at a low cost should not be a reason for the U.S. to blame them, as that same ability has also been practiced here in the U.S. Instead, Senator McCain and others, including the U.S. Justice Department, should hold Raytheon accountable. What they did is unconscionable. Furthermore, U.S. customs agents appear to not be doing their job. It is also surprising that Intel has not said anything about the possibility of their parts being counterfeited. Surely they know that possibility exists, since they have representation on the U.S. counterfeiting task force.

Counterfeit parts incorporated into our military systems could endanger the lives of our troops, as well as cause other catastrophic consequences. The real blame lies with those brokers and contractors who focus solely on convenience, and perhaps even profit over due diligence.