Higher Prices and More Failures Predicted for Defense Electronics (Tech Jam‪)‬

Defense and aerospace industries are bracing for a spike in the cost of manufacturing high-tech electronics for the U.S. government, as well as for a possible rise in the number of catastrophic failures of pricey military hardware. The culprit is a three-year-old mandate by the European Union to eliminate lead from coatings and solders that are widely used in the production of electronics. The regulations--intended to ensure environmentally safe manufacturing of electronics--also are being adopted by key technology producers such as China, Japan and South Korea. Although the United States has no such rides, it is being greatly affected because it buys most of its electronics from global suppliers.