The Ministry of National Defense (MND) yesterday confirmed that a batch of four nose-cone fuses for intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) that were accidentally shipped to Taiwan by the US in 2006 had been returned to the US.
The missile parts were shipped to Taiwan in error after the Army had ordered helicopter batteries.
"The Pentagon initially asked us to handle the matter, but we could not. When it became apparent that the parts were prohibited military items that should not have left the [US] they stepped in to manage their return," said Vice Admiral Wu Wei-rong (吳偉榮), director-general for the MND's Armaments Bureau.
"We have returned the package, invoiced the Pentagon for compensation and have placed a new order for the correct items," Wu told the legislature's Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee's meeting yesterday morning.
The ministry said that it had ordered four replacement battery packs for use with the nation's fleet of UH-1H helicopters from the Pentagon's Defense Logistics Agency, but the error was only discovered last week when staff tried to unpack what they thought were the battery packs.
The military made the comments after the Pentagon made public details about the incident on Tuesday.
The Pentagon said that the items had since been returned to US control, although US officials said many questions remain.
They said it was not clear, for instance, why it took Taiwan nearly two years to realize the nose-cone mechanisms were not helicopter batteries, adding the answer to that had to await the conclusion of investigations now being launched.
US defense officials said that initial indications were that the Taiwanese military did not tamper with the equipment or gain information that could contribute to the development of missile technology with potential nuclear ramifications.
But the US officials stressed that they did not have much information, and that further investigations, which were ordered immediately, would have to be conducted before most questions arising from the Pentagon's gaffe could be answered.
Some experts said that even two years of access to the fuse mechanisms would not have been sufficient for Taiwan's military to derive any benefit from the mistake.
"While the fuse is part of the nuclear warhead for the US Minuteman ICBM, it appears very unlikely that such a simple fuse could in any way inform a Taiwanese missile program," Richard Fisher, an expert on Taiwanese military issues, told the Taipei Times.
"Taiwan has been producing artillery rockets for decades and likely has long had the ability to make similar fuses for sensing altitude to trigger an explosion," he said.
Pentagon officials said that the mistake was only discovered last Thursday. On Friday, on the eve of Taiwan's presidential election, US Defense Secretary Robert Gates and US President George W. Bush were notified. Immediate actions were taken to retrieve the errant boxes and return them to US control, the Pentagon officials said.
US officials briefing the media on the foul-up said that the items involved were four nose cone assemblies and their electrical components for Minuteman ICBMs.
The equipment is used to trigger nuclear warheads as the missiles approach their targets, information US officials gave reporters during a Pentagon media conference showed.
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