Bad parts blamed for missile accident

The accidental firing of a Sidewinder air-to-air missile by an ROK Air Force F-5E fighter on Jan. 29 was caused by defective parts supplied by an American arms manufacturer, Entron. The jet fighter mistakenly fired the missile into the sky over the West Sea shortly after taking off from the Kunsan Air Base. The parts in question were imported from the United States in 1998 under a foreign military sales program.

According to air force investigators on Monday, the missile was fired when a loosened bolt inside the power supply pack in the back of the missile launcher caused a short circuit, leading automatically to the missile firing even though the firing switch was not activated. An extensive probe found that the parts were not molded to keep their insides from shaking or becoming dislocated and were thus severely flawed, they said.

The Air Force ordered all F-5E fighters grounded for two weeks between Jan. 29 and Feb. 11. Models using Entron parts will remain grounded until the completion of close safety checks with Sidewinder missiles unloaded. The nation`s air defense preparedness would suffer a serious setback as a result of idling over 60 F-5E fighter planes for an extended period. Military authorities plan to ask the U.S. government to warrant that power supply parts for its aircraft are free from defects, and offer compensation for the misfired missile, which is priced at 54 million won.