Defence equipment from US may have spurious parts: Antony
09 Aug 2012
The ministry of defence is investigating the possibility that crucial and expensive defence equipment purchased from the US contains defective Chinese parts, defence minister A K Antony told the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday.
"There have been media reports that the faulty spare parts made in China have been used in the defence equipment being sold by US, which are being verified," Antony said in a written reply.
A US Senate investigation has concluded that between 2009 and 2010, about 1,800 incidents were detected in which more than a million fake parts had been sourced from China. The Senate panel report released this May states that counterfeit electronic parts from China were used in the Air Force's Lockheed C-130J cargo plane, helicopters for special operations and the Navy's Poseidon surveillance plane.
India has purchased six C-130J aircraft from US manufacturer Lockheed Martin. The planes have joined the IAF fleet and are based at Hindon near Delhi. New Delhi has also signed on to buy the Poseidon (named P8I) surveillance plane from Boeing.
In the last five years, India has shopped extensively with the US for its defence needs. Its purchases include the Indian Naval Ship Jalashwa, UH-3H helicopters, Harpoon missiles, and long-range acoustic devices, according to a list tabled by Antony in the House.
The list also included modern hull penetrating periscopes, side scan sonar, sensor fused weapons, the C-17 Globemaster-III, quick reaction team (QRT) boats, and other purchases.
