Counterfeit parts in the supply chain are becoming commonplace and now the US military are falling victims to bogus microprocessors which are used in everything from communications and radar systems to warplanes and missiles. Last year criminals imported bogus chips altered to resemble those from legitimate companies, including companies such as Intel, Altera and National Semiconductor. These were subsequently purchased by the US Navy. Due to the fact that the microprocessors it needed for its F-15 warplanes' flight-control computer were no longer made by the original manufacturer, the military obtained them from a broker, and in March they found that they were fake. In the same month the Tobyhanna Army Depot in Pennsylvania discovered it had malfunctioning chips intended for use in military communications systems. In November 2009, a Florida business that makes a device to keep injured pilots from becoming entangled in their parachutes reported finding a counterfeit chip in one of the devices and other fakes in its supply chain.
From November 2007 through May 2010, US Customs officials said they seized 5.6 million counterfeit chips. The Commerce Department reported 3,868 counterfeit incidents in 2005 in which the military and its suppliers had encountered bogus electronics. By 2008, the number of incidents had risen to 9,356. The Commerce Department study found 14 military organizations, including three with the Defense Logistics Agency reported finding counterfeit components.
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