An undercover investigation by a federal watchdog group showed how ineffective laws and poor enforcement of procurement regulations allow companies to purchase sensitive military technologies for export to possible terrorist groups and foreign governments.
Auditors from the Government Accountability Office, who posed as representatives from a fictitious company, were able to purchase sensitive technology equipment such as night-vision scopes that U.S. soldiers use in Iraq and Afghanistan, hardware to detonate nuclear weapons, sensors used in improvised explosive devices, and gyro chips for guided missiles and military aircraft.
During its investigation from May 2008 to June 2009, GAO also was able to purchase an F-16 engine-monitoring system computer, which the Air Force uses in single-engine aircraft to monitor engine performance, said Gregory Kutz, managing director of forensic audits and special investigations at GAO, in his testimony before the House Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations on Thursday.
“The only thing more surprising than the ease with which GAO acquired this sensitive equipment is that fact that it was apparently entirely legal,” said subcommittee Chairman Bart Stupak, D-Mich., in his opening testimony. “There is no requirement for them to conduct any background checks or due diligence on the buyers, much less submit the proposed sale to the government for a license to purchase. This is obviously not satisfactory.”
