APPLICABILITY OF U.S. DEFENSE TRADE CONTROLS TO PRINTED BOARDS

DECEMBER 12, 2012

Peter Lichtenbaum(202) 662-5557

plichtenbaum@cov.com

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Overview

• Background on printed boards• Current ITAR controls• Export control reform

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Printed Boards: What are they? What do they do?

• Conductive printed wires attached to rigid, insulating sheet of fiberglass-reinforced polymer (aka “board” or “substrate”).

• PCBs connect active components (microchips and transistors) and passive components (sensors and fuses) into an electronic assembly that controls a system.

Specially Designed Nature of Printed Boards

“An important element of [printed boards] is that they are usually product-unique”.

SOURCE: LINKAGES: MANUFACTURING TRENDS IN ELECTRONIC INTERCONNECTION TECHNOLOGY, NATIONAL

ACADEMY OF SCIENCES, 2005

• Each printed board is specifically and uniquely designed for the products into which it is incorporated

• Printed boards are not “COTS” products

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Printed Board Designs

• Electronic data file, often supplemented with drawings: provides roadmap for the electronic operation of the item for which it is designed

• Materials used in circuit board construction including special properties functionality

• Design and placement of parts and components

• Designed flow of information through the circuit board, between components and to the system in which it is installed

Printed Boards are Vital to National Defense

“The effectiveness of defense systems depends on the underlying

PrCB [printed board] technology.”

SOURCE: LINKAGES: MANUFACTURING TRENDS IN ELECTRONIC INTERCONNECTION TECHNOLOGYNATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES

2005

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Why the PCB is Important to National Security

– The PCB is the basic building block for all military electronics.

– It incorporates all the Intellectual Property that is contained in the design.

– The information contained in the PCB data could be used to reverse-engineer our systems.

– The PCB has become a functional part of the system on complex hardware like radar systems.

– The designs and material selections on systems like Space Based Radar determine the performance of the system.

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Military Significance of Printed Boards

• Electronic warfare systems• Flight communication radios• Integrated avionics• Smart munitions fuse• IED jammers and detectors• Unmanned air and ground vehicles (UAVs

and UGVs)

Printed Boards Contain Vital Intellectual Property in DoD Electronics

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AMRAAM Missile

PBs

PBs

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TRIDENT II U.S. Navy’s Fleet Ballistic Missile

PBs

Printed Boards Contain Vital Intellectual Property in DoD Electronics

Example: Printed Boards for Flight Controls

• Design of the printed boards for flight controls can reveal the data buses used in the controls

• Data buses are the communications channels between the flight computer and the aircraft control surfaces

• Access to data bus types can provide U.S. adversaries with information about potential weaknesses of the aircraft, including how sensitive the aircraft is to electronic disruption

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Relevant ITAR Provisions

• Category XI(c): “Components…specifically designed or modified for use with [XI(a) or (b) equipment], except for such items as are in normal commercial use”

• Category VIII(h) components “specifically designed or modified” for items in VIII(a)-(d); other similar components categories in USML

• Technical data that is “directly related” to these components: XI(d), VIII(i), etc.

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Basic ITAR Approach

• Export jurisdiction over the printed board, or the board design, depends on the product it is designed for: ITAR or EAR

• Boards designed for defense articles generally presumed ITAR, until DDTC rules otherwise– Cat. XI(c) “normal commercial use”

• Boards designed for EAR products are EAR, even if the EAR product will be installed on a defense platform

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Commodity Jurisdiction (CJ) Rulings

• Limited information available publicly on DDTC site: post-2010, summary descriptions

• Artwork “unpopulated circuit board” – XII(e)• Sensor Concepts circuit boards for reflectivity

analysis system – XI(c)• Data Device Corp. PMC circuit card

implementing data bus protocols (1553, ARINC429, RS-422) – EAR99

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Proposed Cat. XI Rule (Nov. 28)

• “Printed circuit boards or patterned multichip modules for which the layout is ‘specially designed’ for defense articles in this subchapter.”

• “Technical data directly related to [such items]”

• An important confirmation– But can the approach be further improved to

provide greater clarity?

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Comments and Questions?