This is a helicopter battery:(CBS/AP) The Defense Department announced on Tuesday that it mistakenly shipped non-nuclear components for an intercontinental ballistic missile to Taiwan but has recovered them and launched an investigation.
MINUTEMAN Then and Now
Today we have taken many of the MM's apart... and well some fuses got mishandled. Click on the aol AP link for the whole story.
"Go ahead, make my day."
And if I had a photo of one of those Minuteman Fuses mentioned in this story, I would have had about a billion hits on my page this morning...
MINUTEMAN Then and NowFor decades of Cold War Minutemen trained to battle in all kinds of conditions.
Video Fix: Takes Pepper Spray, Dishes Out Hurt
By Noah Shachtman April 30, 2007 6:00:00 AMCategories: Video Fix
Watch a soldier take a face full of pepper spray -- and still manage to club, smack, and shove a whole mess ...
Video Fix: Takes Pepper Spray, Dishes Out Hurt
By Noah Shachtman April 30, 2007 6:00:00 AMCategories: Video Fix
Watch a soldier take a face full of pepper spray -- and still manage to club, smack, and shove a whole mess ...
and Now...
Today we have taken many of the MM's apart... and well some fuses got mishandled. Click on the aol AP link for the whole story.
US Mistakenly Shipped Arms to Taiwan
By ROBERT BURNS, AP
Posted: 2008-03-25 19:01:37
Filed Under: Nation News
WASHINGTON (March 25) - Shipping by mistake electrical fuses for an intercontinental ballistic missile to Taiwan raised concerns Tuesday for U.S.-China relations and triggered a broad investigation into the security of Pentagon weapons.
China vehemently opposes U.S. arms sales to Taiwan. Four of the cone-shaped fuses were shipped to Taiwanese officials in fall 2006 instead of the helicopter batteries the
y had ordered.
Despite quarterly checks of the inventory, defense officials said they never knew the fuses were gone. Only after months of discussions with Taiwan over the missing batteries did the Pentagon finally realize - late last week - the gravity of what had happened.
Once the error was discovered, the military quickly recovered the four fuses. How it happened, and whether the incident constitutes a violation of any treaty or agreement governing international sales of missile technology, were lingering questions.
At a hastily called news conference Tuesday, Ryan Henry, the No. 2 policy official in Defense Secretary Robert Gates' office, said President Bush as well as Chinese leaders were informed of the mistake - an error Henry called intolerable.
"I can not emphasize forcefully enough how strong the secretary feels about this matter and how disconcerting it is to him," Henry told reporters. He added that in an organization the size of the Defense Department there will be mistakes, but that "they cannot be tolerated in the arena in strategic systems, whether they are nuclear or only associated equipment, as was in this case."
In a comment directed at the Chinese concerns, Henry said the error does not suggest that U.S. policies on arms sales to Taiwan have changed.Taiwan, which split from China amid civil war in 1949, is the most sensitive issue in U.S.-China relations. Chinese officials repeatedly complained about U.S. arms sales to Taiwan during meetings with Gates in Beijing last fall. The U.S. insists it only provides weapons that would allow Taiwan to defend itself.
Beijing claims Taiwan as its own and has threatened to attack should the self-governing island make its de facto independence formal. Washington has hinted that it would go to war to protect Taiwan.
...The fuses were manufactured for use on a Minuteman strategic nuclear missile and are linked to the triggering mechanism in the nosecone, but they contain no nuclear materials.
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. All active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.
2008-03-25 18:35:25
By ROBERT BURNS, AP
Posted: 2008-03-25 19:01:37
Filed Under: Nation News
WASHINGTON (March 25) - Shipping by mistake electrical fuses for an intercontinental ballistic missile to Taiwan raised concerns Tuesday for U.S.-China relations and triggered a broad investigation into the security of Pentagon weapons.
China vehemently opposes U.S. arms sales to Taiwan. Four of the cone-shaped fuses were shipped to Taiwanese officials in fall 2006 instead of the helicopter batteries the
y had ordered.Despite quarterly checks of the inventory, defense officials said they never knew the fuses were gone. Only after months of discussions with Taiwan over the missing batteries did the Pentagon finally realize - late last week - the gravity of what had happened.
Once the error was discovered, the military quickly recovered the four fuses. How it happened, and whether the incident constitutes a violation of any treaty or agreement governing international sales of missile technology, were lingering questions.
At a hastily called news conference Tuesday, Ryan Henry, the No. 2 policy official in Defense Secretary Robert Gates' office, said President Bush as well as Chinese leaders were informed of the mistake - an error Henry called intolerable.
"I can not emphasize forcefully enough how strong the secretary feels about this matter and how disconcerting it is to him," Henry told reporters. He added that in an organization the size of the Defense Department there will be mistakes, but that "they cannot be tolerated in the arena in strategic systems, whether they are nuclear or only associated equipment, as was in this case."
In a comment directed at the Chinese concerns, Henry said the error does not suggest that U.S. policies on arms sales to Taiwan have changed.Taiwan, which split from China amid civil war in 1949, is the most sensitive issue in U.S.-China relations. Chinese officials repeatedly complained about U.S. arms sales to Taiwan during meetings with Gates in Beijing last fall. The U.S. insists it only provides weapons that would allow Taiwan to defend itself.
Beijing claims Taiwan as its own and has threatened to attack should the self-governing island make its de facto independence formal. Washington has hinted that it would go to war to protect Taiwan.
...The fuses were manufactured for use on a Minuteman strategic nuclear missile and are linked to the triggering mechanism in the nosecone, but they contain no nuclear materials.
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. All active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.
2008-03-25 18:35:25
3 comments:
O.K., I've seen this story at different consumer news franchises and something is not clear--to me at least.
These fuses-Are they actual ignition devices, you know like a fuse on a fire cracker except, in this case, for a missile?
Or, are these "fusible links", a type of protective circuit, like you replace in your breaker box when there are two hairdryers running at the same time?
May sound silly but, I think that it makes a big difference in this case.
Thanks Jack for pointing that out. I have updated this post to include some of those important questions.
Did you notice this: "Washington has hinted that it would go to war to protect Taiwan."
How does one hint with one's finger on the button of nuclear delivery systems... note my use of modern terminology. Tha's 'cause i is edumicated. /pd
Cool pictures especially the batt'ry. Do they sell Minuteman Salsa down on the Brazos? Oh yeah, watched the video too, that's a determined young shaver there, no?
It's a non-story and Mr. Burns of AP is either a moron or a prick.
The fuses in question are fusible links. In this case, an electrical pulse passes through one of these fuses on it's way to the ignition system. The main component of a fusible link is a piece of wire that melts when too much current flows, breaking the circuit in which it is connected, and protecting other components from damage due to excessive current.
If the Taiwanese, Chinese, Balinese had everything else needed for a nucUlear warhead and only lacked fuses, I'm pretty sure they could figure out how to connect some wire.
Peace
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