A device containing explosives disappeared from a U.S. Marine helicopter in Japan on Thursday.
The 1st Marine Aircraft Wing stationed in Okinawa, Japan has reported a device that contains explosives was noticeably missing from their Bell AH-1Z Viper helicopter after it underwent a post-flight inspection on Thursday.
A spokesperson for the 1st Marine Aircraft Wing unit told the Stars and Stripes the missing device is no more than two inches wide and contains approximately .16 ounces of TNT.
At the time of this writing, the explosives have yet to be found and an investigation on what led to the disappearance of the device is still ongoing.
The helicopter part contained approximately 0.16 ounces of TNT. https://t.co/w48ykoiYSq
— Marine Corps Times (@Marinetimes) March 22, 2023
A Thursday inspection of an AH-1Z Viper helicopter belonging to the 1st Marine Aircraft Wing determined that a charge activated device had gone missing near Okinawa, Japan, after a post-flight inspection of the aircraft, the unit said in a statement to Marine Corps Times.
Not even an inch-and-a-half wide or tall, the part contains approximately 0.16 ounces of TNT, an explosive chemical compound, according to the statement.
“1st MAW takes all aviation related events seriously and is conducting a thorough assessment of the incident,” the statement reads.
The U.S. Bell AH-1Z Viper helicopter made headlines this week after the United States offered Slovakia 12 AH-1Z Viper helicopters at half price.
BREAKING:
Slovakia’s Defense Minister @JaroNad just announced Slovakia is buying 12 Bell AH-1Z Viper attack helicopters
500 AGM-114 HELLFIRE II missiles are included
The price is USD 1 bn, but the U.S. will cover 600 mln of it in exchange for the 13 MiG-29s going to UA
🇺🇸🇸🇰🇺🇦 pic.twitter.com/aAe3ID7kY7
— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) March 22, 2023
The United States offered Slovakia the 12 helicopters at discount after Slovakia transferred 13 retired RAC-MiG-29 fighters to Ukraine.
