ACCESSION NUMBER:242957
FILE ID:POL206
DATE:09/15/92
TITLE:DEFENSE DEPARTMENT REPORT, TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 15 (09/15/92)
TEXT:*92091506.POL
DEFENSE DEPARTMENT REPORT, TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 15

(Bosnia, Somalia, Israeli defense, POW/MIAs)  (610)
NEWS BRIEFING -- Deputy spokesman Bob Hall discussed the following
topics:

U.S. HELICOPTER HIT BY GROUND FIRE OVER BOSNIA
Hall said one of two U.S. CH-53 rescue helicopters flying a search and
rescue mission over Bosnia-Hercegovina September 3 was hit by ground fire
while trying to locate the wreckage of an Italian relief aircraft.

When the pilots saw ground fire they returned to their ship off the coast,
he said.

The initial inspection of the helicopters, which was conducted at night, did
not indicate anything was amiss, he said, but a later evaluation on
September 7 "revealed a hole in the helicopter tail rotor" resulting from a
5.56 mm small arms round.

Hall also said that beginning September 11, U.S. aircraft flying relief
missions in support of Operation Provide Promise began using a new route
taking them from Germany to Split, in Croatia, to Zagreb, back to Split and
then returning to Frankfurt.  Flights into Sarajevo were suspended when the
Italian relief aircraft was shot down.

Since the Split missions began, he said, 94.3 metric tons of aid have been
flown in.

U.S. DELIVERS FIRST PAKISTANI TROOPS TO SOMALIA
The U.S. Air Force delivered the first 40 Pakistani soldiers and their
equipment to Mogadishu, Somalia, September 14, and the remainder of the
60-member advanced party were flown in from Islamabad via Djibouti on
September 15, Hall said.  He said that eventually, the number of Pakistanis
participating in the United Nations security effort in Somalia is expected
1o climb to 500.

The spokesman said U.S. humanitarian flights into Oddur, Somalia, began
September 12; four flights carrying 33.67 metric tons have been made.
Flights of food also continue to Baidoa and Belet Weyne, he said.

To date, he said, the United States has delivered 1,191.51 metric tons to
all three Somali locations aboard 119 flights and 1,743.7 metric tons to
Kenya on 104 flights.

U.S. COMMITTED TO ISRAEL'S "DEFENSIVE EDGE"
Hall told questioners the United States remains committed to maintaining
Israel's "qualitative edge and their defense capabilities."

The question was raised in the wake of the Defense Department's September 15
notification to Congress of a plan to sell 72 F-15XP aircraft to Saudi
Arabia.  The $9,000 million package also includes 900 Maverick AIM-9S and
300 AIM-7M air-to-air missiles, 600 CBU-87 (cluster) bombs and 700
GBU-10/12 (general purpose) bombs, as well as spare and repair parts,
support equipment, technical documentation and logistics services.

Hall said a U.S.-Israeli defense dialogue has been going on "for a long
time" and predates President Bush's decision to sell the F-15s to Saudi
Arabia.  Maintaining Israel's qualitative defense edge, he said, is "an
ongoing process."

The spokesman said military experts assessed Saudi defense needs and
equipment requirements, but the Defense Department would not have made the
sale if it had been perceived as "a threat to Israel."

MORE DOCUMENTS ON POW/MIAS RELEASED TO PUBLIC
The Defense Department has released another 4,700 pages of documents
relating to American prisoners of war and those missing in action from the
Vietnam War, Hall said.

He said the latest batch --  drawn from the archives of U.S. intelligence
agencies from 1966-92 --includes memos and official correspondence.

With this fourth release of documents, the spokesman said the number of
pages available for viewing by the public now totals 8,700.

NNNN

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