Defense and Aerospace at Greater Risk for Counterfeit Parts

The AIA report states that although the threat of counterfeit parts is widespread across industries, “Counterfeit electronic parts may pose the greatest risk to aerospace and defense programs in cost,

schedule, safety and overall mission success.” 

This report is on target. Over the past several years we have seen too many counterfeit electronic components. They can pose a grave danger to our military programs.  As the AIA report states:

“Regardless of how counterfeit parts—whether electronic, mechanical or other—enter the aerospace and defense supply chain, they can jeopardize the performance, reliability and safety of aerospace and defense products. Authentic parts have known performance histories and adhere to the manufacturers’ quality control plans, whereas counterfeit parts have unknown performance reliability and often limited quality controls. The cost of counterfeit parts entering the supply chain is greater than simple replacement of the counterfeit part. Ramifications could include potential product failure, warranty costs, inspections and testing, restocking, lost revenue, exfiltration of electronic data, loss of intellectual property such as trademark value and compromising national security. For space applications, the cost of mission failure may include the potential loss of entire platforms, such as satellites, due to inaccessibility for repair.”

Simply put, fake components are an unknown and can cause our military and space equipment to fail. This report and the Senate hearings I wrote about earlier this month (Armed Services Committee to Investigate Counterfeit Components) are both important steps towards putting the spotlight on the dangers we face from the growing problem of counterfeit electronic components.

NJMET’s Mission Imposter program provides comprehensive testing for counterfeit electronic components. Click here to learn more. NJMET is based in Clifton, NJ with additional offices in Denver, London and Hong Kong.