Anti-counterfeit | The Contracting Education Academy

August 16, 2016 By AMK

DoD issues final rule to avoid counterfeit electronics

The Defense Department amended its acquisition rulebook to clarify contractors’ roles in keeping counterfeit electronics out of critical defense systems.

And fake electronics have been a problem. A 2012 Senate Armed Services Committee investigation found 1,800 cases of counterfeit electronic parts in military equipment and named China as the dominant supplier. Though DoD has since improved its ability to trace parts to the original manufacturer, a 2016 Government Accountability Office report states, “the DoD supply chain is vulnerable to the risk of counterfeit parts — which can have serious consequences.”

The Defense Acquisition Regulation Supplement final rule, posted and effective Aug. 2, 2016, focuses on the careful selection of suppliers and verifying the authenticity of electronic parts.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.nextgov.com/defense/2016/08/dod-issues-final-rule-avoid-counterfeit-electronics/130445/

August 23, 2013 By AMK

Defense contractors aren’t ready to comply with anti-counterfeit rule

Many contractors admit they will be unable to immediately comply with a rule, taking effect by March 2014, that would require contractors to either develop a new system for detecting counterfeit electronic parts or forego payment.

The Pentagon is under pressure to address congressional concerns about the risk of weapons systems failing if adversaries or sloppy suppliers slip in unauthorized components. That’s because the deadline for carrying out a 2011 defense authorization law calling for anti-counterfeit regulations was almost two years ago.

But the military sector is unprepared for all the pending requirements, partly because the Defense Department has not offered an explanation for what an acceptable system must do. Industry members told Pentagon officials as much earlier this summer during meetings and in written comments on a draft rule. Officials say they are reviewing company concerns but still plan to release the mandates during the first quarter of calendar year 2014.

“The rule will take effect when the final rule is published,” Defense spokesman Mark Wright said in an email on Aug. 8, 2013.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.nextgov.com/defense/2013/08/defense-sector-not-ready-comply-2014-anti-counterfeit-rule/68378

August 20, 2013 By AMK

Counterfeits can kill U.S. troops — so why isn’t Congress and DoD doing more to stop it?

Sometime in the not-to-distant future, a submarine will sink. An air defense missile will detonate far from its intended target. A Seahawk helicopter will intercept a suicide speed boat headed for an aircraft carrier only to see its infrared targeting system goes dark.

These chilling scenarios won’t be the result of human error or terrorist plots: They will directly result from a $2 counterfeit electronic tucked deep within a billion-dollar military technology.

It’s not a matter of if, but when. Just this month, the Department of Justice indicted a Massachusetts man for selling counterfeit semiconductors to Navy contractors. Some of the fake parts were intended for nuclear submarines.

The vast majority of counterfeits discovered in military equipment are semiconductors, the stamp-sized silicon wafers that act as the “brains” of nearly every type of modern electronic system. The U.S. military is a huge consumer of these tiny products; a single F-35 Joint Strike Fighter jet is controlled by more than 2,500 semiconductors.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.defenseone.com/technology/2013/08/counterfeits-can-kill-us-troops-so-why-isnt-congress-and-dod-doing-more-stop-it/68381/

The Defense Department amended its acquisition rulebook to clarify contractors’ roles in keeping counterfeit electronics out of critical defense systems.

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