European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - June 21, 1987, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Psb02b the stars and stripes sunday june 21.1987pago28  oui adj us. Army grounds Apache helicopters _,_,.,.jj.,1 manufacturer s  the Snokus signed to kill enemy tanks the apace by Norman Black a military writer Washington a the army late Friday issued a safely message to us aviation units directing a temporary rounding of Apache helicopter gunships pending inspection and replacement of certain  safely of flight1 message was is sued after an investigation of two minor mishaps involving lie advanced attack chopper at fort Rucker ala., earlier this month said maj. Phil Soucy an army  units Are being told not to allow any Apache to Fly until its engine electrical wiring harness u replaced and other related components Are inspected Soucy  work is expected to take Only about tour hours per helicopter an most should be returned to service quickly the spokesman  incidents at fort Rucker occurred on june 3 and june 16 and Bot involved a sudden unexpected shut Down of the engines Stacy said. In the first instance the helicopter was about 40 feet in the air but u managed Toland safely. In the second the copter was taxiing on a runway in preparation Tor Takeoff no one was injured in either Inci Dent and the aircraft were not dam aged he  both incidents arc still under investigation a preliminary in Quiry has suggested that the helicopters Tost Power because of malfunction or shorts in their engine wiring Soucy  do not believe at this time based on a very preliminary inquiry that the problems Are the result of a manufacturer s defect e spokes Man said. They appear to be the re sult of the methods that were being used at one Post to clean these Helicon  wiring in question is exposed inside the engine compartment justas the engine wiring inside an Auto Mobile is. The Apache engines at for trucker were being cleaned with the use of chemical soaps and High pres sure water hoses and the investigation is focusing on the possibility that the combination might have produced some unexpected corrosion. According to Soucy 243 apaches have so far been manufactured Lor the army and All Are affected by the safely directive the ah-64 Apache is replacing the cobra helicopter gunship As the army s primary attack helicopter. De signed to kill enemy tanks the apaches also a twin engine copter. It i built by Mcdonnell Douglas helicopters formerly Hughes helicopters and costs roughly $11.5  Apache Fleet was grounded twice in 1986, both limes for relatively minor problems. In the first instance on Jan 30,1986, the choppers were grounded Fol lowing the discovery of cracks in some Rotor Blades. That order was lifted after investigators determined the cracks had been caused by an improperly designed maintenance tool. The second Lime on March ii,1986, the Fleet was grounded after the army decided to replace certain bolts used to hold the night control Assem Bly together. The service ultimately determined it had erred in specifying the use of a hardened steel for the bolts. Fairness doctrine1 plan draws veto by Reagan Washington a president Reagan sat urday vetoed legislation to make permanent the fairness doctrine the nearly 40-year-old Federal policy Hal requires broadcasting nations to pre sent opposing views on controversial  doing so Reagan sided with the Federal communications commission which said it feb the doctrine is constitutionally suspect and broadcast ers who complained that it infringes on their first amendment rights and editorial Freedom. Iran threat to . Follows persian Gulf attack by Iraq Nicosia Cyprus a iranian prime min ister Hussein Musavi on saturday threatened crushing blows against . Targets in the persian Gulf after iraqi warplanes attacked an Iran bound Oil Tanker and the Harg Island terminal. The attacks ended a one month Lull in the Tanker War an offshoot of the efe year old Iran Iraq War. Musavi speaking on official Tehran radio monitored in Nicosia linked the iraqi attacks to Kuwait which is having 11 tankers re flagged in the Umed states to gain Protection from Irani an attack in the Gulf. Iraq declared top arms importer Washington a Iraq is by far the world Leader in importing weapons Wilh most of the lop importers in the Middle East a report by the .arms control and disarmament Agency shows Iraq bought 17.7 billion Worth of arms in 1984more than twice the purchases of saudi Arabia which ranked second with $2.6 billion. Iran which is Al War with Iraq was third with $2.2 billion. Three other Arab countries followed m the repo issued Friday. Libya purchased $1.8 billion in on Egypt bought $1.6 billion and Syria il3bilnon. conspicuously missing from the Jup manual report were the weapons the Reagan and stration secretly sold to Iran beginning indy Weber 1985 through Israel their Worth u Tii Jeffi Al $30 million a Lin portion of the Middle alarms Market. . Ovici Alvah a demanded anonymity said the had relied Onuf arcs provided by the Central Intelli hence age Nair and other , intelligence sources for in information voc Vine 1981-1985 period countries in the Region the Sovi Etie United state purchased $75 billion Worth of Union provided $18,4 billi$15.1 billion