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ARTICLE · 16 AUGUST 2013

Counterfeits Can Kill U.S. Troops. So Why Isn't Congress And DoD Doing More To Stop it?

Thompson Coburn LLP
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That huge military demand has fueled a rampant and quite sophisticated counterfeit network that spans the globe.

United StatesIntellectual Property
James Burger
James Burger
Kimberly Heifetz
Kimberly Heifetz
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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 last 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.

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