[xoxoxoBruce]

I would think normal transport of that device would take place in a well shielded container. Probably a good sized, fairly heavy, container... at least as big as a breadbox. Did they lose the whole thing or just the device?
Our local trash-to-steam incinerator has a thingy that can detect a smoke detector in the middle of a trash truck. I'm sure the military has better stuff, airborne stuff. They must know the route the device should have taken, so it shouldn't be that hard to locate, unless it just rides around in the back of some dude's pickup, and one day it ain't there. I'd assume the announcement it was missing is a cover-your-ass move.