The techniques employed to re-process the used parts into components that appear “new” make already unreliable components even less reliable. For example, used parts are commonly sanded or acid washed to remove product identification information and re-coated to further conceal that they are counterfeit. The collective impact of these reprocessing techniques is to increase the already significant risk posed by unwitting reliance on bogus components.
And this risk is hardly limited to the private sector. During 2009 and 2010, more than one million counterfeit electronic components were identified in critical defense systems ranging from submarines and aircraft to thermal weapon sights and advanced missile systems, according to the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee.
“We do not want a $12 million missile defense interceptor’s reliability compromised by a $2 counterfeit part,” said General Patrick O’Reilly, the Director of Missile Defense Agency in 2011.