THE MISSILE, complete with a MAZ-543 transporter-erector-launcher and empty
warhead, was rolled right off a ship in Port Hueneme in California on Sept. 2
and has been impounded until the investigation determines if there were any
crimes committed, said Customs spokesman Pat Jones. Another U.S. official
identified the buyer as Jacques Littlefield, a well-known military hardware
collector and self-proclaimed tank nerd who lives on a 450-acre ranch in
Portola Valley, Calif., near Palo Alto. As one of General Electrics largest
individual stockholders, Littlefield is worth hundreds of millions of dollars,
according to several news articles about the man and his military collection.
The seller is listed as R&R Motor Services Ltd. of Ashford, England, an
automobile service company that deals in military vehicles. Contrary to initial
reports, the missile was fully operational and included an empty warhead, said
Jones. It was manufactured in what was then Czechoslovakia in 1985. Officials
declined comment on how it got to Britain. British Customs is also
investigating. A Scud missile has an operational range of 190 miles. Officials
say Littlefield paid about $50,000 for the missile. There is a warhead, just
nothing in it. ... The Pentagon experts who looked at it told us it was fully
operational, Jones said. All it needed was fuel.
REVIEWING DOCUMENTATION The U.S. Customs Service is investigating whether the
documentation was falsified, he added. We know it was inaccurate; we dont know
about intent. We would need to know of the intent to determine whether it was
falsified, Jones said. U.S. defense and intelligence officials say they are
concerned not only that this missile was delivered to a US port, but also that
it points up two growing fears among proliferation experts: that there is a
black market in Scud missiles and that a terrorist could fire one or more from
a ship off a major U.S. city. The fact that a complete missile was available
and on a freighter made what were once abstract fears very real. One official
described the missile as looking like a fire engine on steroids as it came off
a freighter at Point Hueneme, about 35 miles north of Los Angeles. Customs has
inspectors trained to recognize all sorts of nasty stuff. This one was easy,
the official said. Customs records indicate this was the second Scud shipped
to the California port for delivery to Littlefield. The first, which was not
operational, was delivered a month earlier, Customs officials said.
MUST BE DEMILITARIZED U.S. law requires military equipment on the U.S.
munitions list to be demilitarized made inoperable prior to being cleared for
private collections. After identifying the missile, Customs first called in the
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, then the U.S. Navy, which has its
Pacific Missile Test Center in nearby Point Mugu. The missile was examined
there, then seized and impounded. The first missile remains at the weapons
collectors ranch. Various profiles of Littlefield reported that he has
collections of 46 tanks and another 80 military vehicles to go with his private
railroad, a fire truck and 15 vintage cars. Im interested in all mechanical
things, how they work, how they run, Littlefield once told the San Jose Mercury
News. The fact that they are weapons is almost beside the point. Littlefield is
a member of the Wattis family, which merged with GE in a 1976 stock deal. The
family is worth more than $3.5 billion. Neither Littlefield nor R&R Motor
Services Ltd. returned phone calls seeking comment.
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