India verifying if US sold 'faulty' defence equipment

New Delhi, Aug 8 (IANS) India Wednesday said it was verifying if "faulty spare parts made in China" were used in defence equipment being sold by the US to it. Some media reports had pointed to the alleged lapses.

Defence Minister A.K. Antony told the Rajya Sabha in a written reply to questions from Congress member Motilal Vora that the government has signed contracts with the US for purchasing various defence equipment in the last five years.

"There have been media reports in this regard, which are being verified," Antony said in response to Vora's question that sought to know if the government was aware a large number of faulty spare parts made in China had been used in the defence equipment being sold by the US to India.

Vora also wanted to know if it was a fact that a report of a committee of the US Senate had also pointed to use of more than a million Chinese-made equipment in these arms.

Antony noted that India had bought a landing pontoon dock and named it INS Jalashwa, UH3H helicopters for the same warship, Harpoon anti-submarine missiles, long-range acoustic devices, modern hull penetrating periscopes, side scan sonar, C-130J transport aircraft, sensor fused weapons, C-17 Globemaster-III aircraft, P-8I long range maritime reconnaissance aircraft and quick reaction team boats from the US.

Media reports suggested that the US Senate committee report stated that counterfeit electronic parts from China were "flooding" into critical US military systems, including special operations helicopters and surveillance planes, and were putting the US troops at risk.

The Senate Armed Services Committee carried out a year-long investigation and found more than a million suspected counterfeit parts had made their way into the US Department of Defence's supply chain and were bound for use by critical military systems.

In addition to the US Navy helicopters and surveillance planes, the parts were slated to be put into the US Air Force's latest cargo aircraft too, the report said.