U.S. defense contractor L-3 Communications Holdings Inc. is under federal criminal investigation after one of its units supplied defective parts used in military emergency radios, The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday.
The suspect parts have prompted a limited recall of radios as well as a government search in December of the offices of an L-3 unit, the Journal said, citing government officials.
A call to L-3 was not answered.
Pentagon investigators late last year began looking into the L-3 unit’s quality controls, the Journal reported, adding that the probe had expanded in recent weeks, citing unnamed government officials.
Quality control issues have sparked concerns about the reliability of the military’s latest hand-held radios, which are intended to ensure communications with downed pilots, search-and-rescue teams and other units facing emergencies on the battlefield, the paper said.
