Procurement: Chinese Fiber Bandits Foiled

Archives

October 4, 2012: The U.S. FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation) defeated a recent Chinese attempt to illegally obtain a vital component for their new fighter jets. The item in question is M60JB carbon fiber. This stuff sells for $2,000 a kilogram (nearly twice what silver goes for these days) and is an essential component of China's stealth fighters (the J-20 and J-31) which are still in development. Obviously China has already obtained some of this carbon fiber but in this case was negotiating to obtain two tons of the stuff.

A Chinese citizen, Ming Suan Zhang, was recently charged with trying to illegally export the fiber and could get up to 20 years in prison, unless he makes a deal with the U.S. government to provide more information on Chinese smuggling operations. China has been illegally obtaining materials and devices for decades. While Internet based espionage makes it easier to steal documents, there is often a need for more tangible items, like two tons of carbon fiber.

 

 

X

ad

Help Keep Us From Drying Up

We need your help! Our subscription base has slowly been dwindling.

Each month we count on your contributions. You can support us in the following ways:

  1. Make sure you spread the word about us. Two ways to do that are to like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.
  2. Subscribe to our daily newsletter. We’ll send the news to your email box, and you don’t have to come to the site unless you want to read columns or see photos.
  3. You can contribute to the health of StrategyPage.
Subscribe   Contribute   Close