A report from Govini, a defense software company, detailed the potential vulnerabilities in U.S. weapons systems due to its reliance upon Chinese-made components.
China has “embedded itself in the supply chains for vital components of U.S. military platforms and weapons systems, creating U.S. reliance on the Chinese industrial base,” the report states, explaining that data shows that between 2005 and 2020, the “level of Chinese suppliers in the U.S. supply chains quadrupled.”
Between 2014 and 2022, U.S. dependence on China for electronics has increased by 600%, the report notes.
Much of this dependence is related to the U.S. sourcing parts from China. Because of the sourcing process, many of the “essential components in sensitive U.S. military systems now come from China.”
As a result, numerous weapons systems are “vulnerable,” the report declared.
Furthermore, an estimated 40% of all semiconductors connected to Department of Defense (DOD) weapons systems are linked to Chinese suppliers. Some of these systems include the B-2 Bomber and Patriot air-defense missiles.
“Chinese companies are embedded in the supply chains of subcontractors to defense primes across system components such as electronics, software, fuses and detonators, and data links,” the report notes, highlighting further vulnerabilities in U.S. weapons systems.
The report concluded by offering several suggestions for U.S. national defense: “ramp up the purchases of critical arms and platform,” create a fund worth billions of dollars to “acquire critical components required for extended conventional strike, shipbuilding, and advanced jets,” and establish a Defense Intelligence Agency office to “detail China’s entire domestic defense industrial base,” among others.
