Oops! Pentagon says missile parts shipped to Taiwan

A Defense Logistics Agency depot in Utah mistakenly shipped fuses for a Minuteman intercontinental ballistic missile to Taiwan instead of batteries for a helicopter.

The Defense Department said it has regained control of four non-nuclear nose cone assemblies for a Minuteman missile mistakenly sent to Taiwan in 2006.

Air Force Secretary Michael W. Wynne announced the snafu during a news conference at the Pentagon on Wednesday.

The Pentagon said Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates learned of the situation on March 21 and immediately ordered that the United States regain positive control of the systems. He also notified the president of the situation.

Gates ordered Adm. Kirkland Donald, director of Navy Nuclear Propulsion, to conduct a comprehensive investigation to determine the facts into how this error occurred and who is accountable throughout the chain of command, said Christopher R. Ryan Henry, principal deputy undersecretary of defense for policy.

The Pentagon said the nosecone assemblies and associated electrical parts are proximity fuses that sense when the missiles approach the ground. It said while not technically triggers, a nuclear warhead atop a Minuteman would not detonate without the signal from these devices.

The Taiwanese receiving the shipment placed it in storage upon receipt, Wynne said. The investigation will determine the integrity of the shipping containers and their contents.

The department has initiated a complete physical inventory of all of the devices, Henry said.

The secretary is further directing the secretaries of the Air Force and Navy to conduct a comprehensive review of all the policies, procedures as well as a physical site inventory of all nuclear and nuclear-associated materiel and equipment across their respective programs, he said.

It was the second incident with a strategic weapon in the past year. In August, an Air Force B-52 flew from Minot Air Force Base, N.D., to Barksdale Air Force Base, La., carrying atomic weapons. The crew did not realize they were carrying nuclear weapons until they landed.

Source: American Shipper