[Infowarrior] - Pentagon Admits Mistaken Shipment of Missile Fuses

[Richard Forno]

Pentagon Admits Mistaken Shipment of Missile Fuses

By Debbi Wilgoren
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, March 25, 2008; 2:35 PM

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/25/AR2008032501
309_pf.html

The U.S. Air Force mistakenly shipped fuses that are used in nuclear weapons
to Taiwan in 2006, believing the crates contained helicopter batteries,
officials at the Pentagon announced this morning.

The error -- undetected by the United States until last week, despite
repeated inquiries by Taiwan -- raises questions about how carefully the
Pentagon safeguards its weapons systems. It also exposes the United States
to criticism from China, a staunch opponent of a militarized Taiwan.

Pentagon officials said Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates has launched a
full investigation. The devices -- which, when attached to a missile, help
launch the detonating process -- have been returned to the United States,
and President Bush has been briefed.

"There are multiple players; there are multiple parties involved," said Ryan
Henry, principal deputy undersecretary of defense policy. "We'll do a
thorough investigation, and those who are found responsible will be held
accountable."

Among other things, officials will try to determine why no one noticed that
the four boxes of components were missing, even though Pentagon policy
requires inventory reconciliation every three months. The probe will also
focus on whether any other material has been wrongly shipped or cannot be
located. An initial evaluation suggests the devices were not tampered with
while they were in Taiwan, officials said.

Henry, who called the error "disconcerting," said the government of Taiwan
acted "very responsibly," quickly notifying the United States that the four
boxes it received in fall 2006 did not appear to contain what had been
ordered. However, both he and Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne added, more
than a year passed before the United States realized what had been shipped
and moved to get the fuses back.

"It wasn't until this week that we became aware that they had something akin
to a nose-cone assembly," Ryan said. "There were early communications, but
we thought we were hearing one thing, and in reality they were saying
something different."

Ryan said U.S. officials have notified authorities in Beijing, which
considers Taiwan to be part of China and opposes its independence. Neither
he nor Wynne answered a reporter who asked how China responded.

"Our policy on Taiwan arm sales has not changed. This specific incident was
an error in process only and was not indicative of a policy change," Henry
said. "We made an error in execution, and we notified them as soon as we
were aware of it."

Wynne described the devices as "the electrical firing mechanism that allows"
an intercontinental ballistic missile "to detonate -- just like the fuse on
a stick of dynamite." The fuses were manufactured for use on a Minuteman
strategic nuclear missile but contain no nuclear materials.

The devices would not work on any other missile system, officials said.

The nose cones, designed for a missile system that dates to the 1960s, were
declared excess in March 2005 and shipped to a warehouse on an Air Force
base in Wyoming, officials said. It is unclear whether they were placed in a
classified storage area or how they were eventually mistaken for crates of
batteries.

In response to a question from a reporter, Wynne said the Pentagon is still
analyzing whether the shipment violated U.S. law or any treaties regulating
arms trade and nuclear weapons policies.

"If there was a violation, we are coming forth with it as soon as we became
aware of it," Wynne said. "And if there was something that was amiss, it
clearly was not intentional. The United States stands by its treaty
obligations."