Jay Clemens
Northrop Grumman’s electronic systems business unit has been awarded a contract worth at least $12 million with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency to develop a supply chain hardware authentication system.
The system will work to verify the trustworthiness of an electronic component and identify counterfeit parts in the supply chain, the Defense Department said Tuesday.
Northrop will affix encryption sensors into the components in order to detect tampering of the parts.
DARPA intends for the program to counter threats such as recycled components being sold as new, unlicensed overproduction of components, test rejects, parts marked with false reliability, clones and repackaged components, DARPA said last year.
Northrop will perform work in locations in Maryland, New Mexico, California, Virginia, Texas and Georgia through July 2016.
