Force Tech Talk 25 | Why We Built a UK Sovereign Anti-Counterfeit Test Lab

Show Notes

In Episode 25 of Force Tech Talk, Commercial Director Charlotte Hughes sits down with CEO Karen Salmon to talk about Force Technologies' new Sovereign Test Lab in Wiltshire: a UK based facility that lets aerospace and defence customers have obsolete semiconductors counterfeit tested in the UK, without sending them overseas.

European and UK customers, and even some in the US, had asked for a UK alternative after a year of changing tariffs, long timescales and parts going missing in transit. Karen explains why the lab is UK based, UK owned and privately funded, and why she expects counterfeiters to flood the market over the next two to three years as AI, drone and missile manufacturers take up semiconductor supply.

She walks through how the lab works in accordance with AS6171, from optical microscopy and jet etch decapsulation to X-ray, XRF and DC electrical test. Force is currently going through AS6171 accreditation and working towards ISO/IEC 17025.

In this episode:

• Building the lab, from sledgehammers to ESD flooring
• Why now: tariffs and the cost of transatlantic testing
• Why sovereign matters: UK based and UK owned capability
• The counterfeit threat for rail, medical and other long-life sectors
• What the lab tests under AS6171, step by step
• Optical microscopy, jet etch decapsulation, X-ray, XRF and DC electrical test
• What comes next: AC and temperature testing, and ISO/IEC 17025 accreditation
• Why customers pushed for a UK anti-counterfeit test lab

Force Technologies has supplied, tested, re-manufactured and stored obsolete semiconductors for aerospace, defence, rail and industrial customers since 1986. To arrange a visit to the Sovereign Test Lab get in touch, and subscribe to our channel for more on obsolescence, counterfeit detection and long-term component storage.

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