WASHINGTON, DC -- A US House of Representatives committee has submitted a report directing the Missile Defense Agency to consider highly accelerated life testing and highly accelerated stress screening test equipment as means for determining reliability issues, including ones caused by counterfeit electronic components.

In a June 7 report, the House Committee on Armed Services said it "continues to be concerned with ... the potential for counterfeit parts to enter the missile defense supply chain."

The committee said "effective utilization of modern HALT/HASS methods and equipment during early design stages has been demonstrated to yield significant improvements in reliability and more effective product designs, as well as cost savings." HALT/HASS can reveal problems caused by fake parts that legacy tests could not, the committee added.

The Committee asked the MDA to conduct an assessment of the value, feasibility, and cost of greater utilization of modern HALT/HASS testing equipment and processes to shorten design and development timelines, reduce system and component testing and lifecycle costs, and enhance reliability of critical missile defense systems and components.

Further, the assessment should consider "whether and to what extent greater utilization of modern HALT/HASS testing equipment and processes could help address the growing problem of detecting and preventing the introduction of counterfeit parts into critical missile defense systems, components, and subcomponents."

The report is due Jan. 15.

The MDA is a research, development, and acquisition agency within the Department of Defense.

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