You have commented 339 times on Rantburg.

Your Name
Your e-mail (optional)
Website (optional)
My Original Nic        Pic-a-Nic        Sorry. Comments have been closed on this article.
Bold Italic Underline Strike Bullet Blockquote Small Big Link Squish Foto Photo
Submit your comments on this article
China-Japan-Koreas
US mistakenly sent nuclear missile fuses to Taiwan
2008-03-26
WASHINGTON - The U.S. military mistakenly shipped four fuses for nuclear missiles to Taiwan in 2006, the Pentagon said on Tuesday, adding that the parts have been returned to U.S. custody.
As Seafarious would say, "whoopsies".
The military was supposed to ship helicopter batteries to Taiwan but instead sent fuses used as part of the trigger mechanism on missiles. No nuclear material was shipped to Taiwan, Pentagon officials said.

The United States has notified China, which maintains a state of war with Taiwan and is modernizing its military to close the technology gap with TaiwanÂ’s mainly U.S. weapons.

The fuse shipment marks the second embarrassing misplacement of nuclear or nuclear-related equipment announced by the Pentagon in the past year. The Defense Department has ordered the Navy and Air Force to take inventory of all nuclear and nuclear-associated equipment and material and U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates has ordered an investigation into the fuse incident, said Ryan Henry, principle deputy undersecretary of defense for policy.

“It was not crystal clear exactly what happened,” he said.
Crystal clear to me. Taiwan now has a copy of the fuses. Then we got the fuses back for our inventory. How convenient.
Posted by:Steve White

#8  I've been out for a while, but am I the only one who finds this *whoopsies* awfully convenient in light of China's shinanigans over Tibet? It appears we won't outright boycott the Olympics over the Chicom's crackdown, but maybe some *mistakes* to convenient allies to send a message?

Or am I just being cynical because Bush is now a lame duck for the next 10 months? *tee-hee*
Posted by: BA   2008-03-26 21:36  

#7  FOX NEWS this AM > China has expressed its "STRONG DISPLEASURE" at the USA for this incident and has formally demanded a full investigation.

FREEREPUBLIC-NET Posters > TAIWAN already has six = a number of working civilian nuke energy plants, any one of which is potens capable of produc enriched nucmats for weapons ala JAPAN. POSTERS - IFF TAIWAN DOESN'T HAVE ANY VITAL FUSE OR TRIGGER, ETC. DESIGNS ALREADY, THEY HAVE 'EM NOW SINCE 2005 IFF NOT EARLIER, AND NOT NECESSARILY VV US-ONLY SUBTERFUGE EITHER.

Also from FREEREPUBLIC-NET POSTERS > just as RRUSSIA fears spread of Radical Islamism both domestically and within CENTRAL ASIA, CHINA FEARS LACK OF CHIN HEGEMONIC CONTROL AND COMPETITION vv MUSLIM UIGHURS + OTHER ETHIC MINORITIES, + ITS SMALLER ASIAN NEIGHBORS, e.g. Myanmar, Tibet, Bhutan, Vietnam, even agz Pakistan and North Korea.
Posted by: JosephMendiola   2008-03-26 19:33  

#6  From yesterday's article it sounded like the fuse was used on MIRVs to separate the missile shroud or the warheads from the missile bus. Nothing to do with nuclear triggering.
Posted by: ed   2008-03-26 11:37  

#5  Ahh, that's nothing. Wait unil we mistakenly send cruise missiles to Iran.

Experience the excitement of terminal guidance.
Thrill as seekers lock on to their targets.
Savor the finely worded diplomacy of our almost sincere apologies.
Oops!
Posted by: SteveS   2008-03-26 11:16  

#4  "helicopter batteries", "nuclear fuses", heyyy anybody could make that mistake. They're right on the shelf next to each other, plus they are spelled nearly the same.....er....

but we got em back, although disassembled, so no harm - no foul
Posted by: Frank G   2008-03-26 10:28  

#3  Pretty thin cover.
Posted by: OldSpook   2008-03-26 08:55  

#2  Hmmm. Taiwan couldn't have any use for nuclear fuses could it? Anyone? China?
Posted by: Spot   2008-03-26 07:55  

#1  Some shipping 'errors' to Japan would be helpful...
Posted by: john frum   2008-03-26 07:47  

00:00