In January 2022, the U.S. Defense Logistics Agency mandated that all electronic components purchased outside of franchise sales or directly from OEMs must be tested to the AS6171 standard.
Our partner is among the first companies to invest heavily in anti-counterfeiting test labs and is a pioneer in detecting counterfeits and clones.

In the ever-changing landscape of geopolitical uncertainty and unforeseen global supply chain disruptions, manufacturers must be proactive when making procurement and residual asset disposition decisions. Vulnerabilities exist throughout the complex global semiconductor supply chain. The COVID-19 pandemic is just one example of an unforeseen situation that brought manufacturing to a standstill in many industries.

In 2012, the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) concluded a year-long investigation into counterfeit electronic parts. The investigation found that the total number of suspect counterfeit parts involved in the 1,800 defense case studies investigated exceeded 1 million. The investigation focused on counterfeit parts in U.S. Department of Defense applications and resulted in a Defense Authorization bill directive stating:

There are many considerations when creating or updating a policy for the mitigation of counterfeit electronic components. The main intention of such a policy is applicable to components sourced from the open market (or gray market). However, the increased threat of clone counterfeits making their way into authorized distribution channels may also necessitate policies to consider components sourced from vulnerable authorized sources, for instance, authorized distribution of Chinese made semiconductors.