Counterfeit microchips were found--just in time!--in a F-15 flight computer at Robins Air Force Base in Georgia video >>

Better late than never: the Senate Armed Services Committee has uncovered the fact that in 2008, counterfeit microchips were found--just in time!--in a F-15 flight computer at Robins Air Force Base in Georgia.

In a CBS expose on the issue, Major General Robert McMahon pointed out the complexity, and vulnerability of the F-15: "You look at all of those gaps in the structure there," McMahon said as he showed a CBS reporter the interior of an F-15 nose assembly.

"There'd be a black box in there and each black box has a myriad of circuit cards and each card has a variety of chips," he added. The modules control radar, flight and weapons systems in the jet. Applied DNA Sciences President and CEO James Hayward testified before the Senate Committee this year, and pointed out that, while counterfeiters are getting smarter, and the old identifying protocols are not as reliable, DNA marking and authentication are a solid solution.

CBS posted this video: