A report yesterday accused Ministry of National Defense (MND) Armaments Bureau officials of corruption through collusion with contractors over the price of a tread replacement component for armored vehicles that was reportedly inflated to almost 10 times its list price.
The allegation centered on rubber pads for the track treads of Taiwan’s CM-21A1 armored infantry fighting vehicle, according to the whistle-blower, an officer at the Army Logistics Command.
A report in the Chinese-language Apple Daily newspaper yesterday said that the rubber pads were purchased from a US manufacturer, who listed the price for the pads at US$5.33 per unit for a recent procurement of 29,204 units.
The pads — catalogued by their US Department of Defense national stock number, 2530000889531 — were reportedly listed by the Army Logistics Command as costing NT$1,504 (US$47.43) each, almost 10 times the US supply company’s original price.
The total procurement cost for the replacement rubber pads was NT$43.92 million, the report said.
Besides the inflated price, the whistle-blower said that the rubber pads, a tread replacement part for the locally built CM-21A1 armored fighting vehicles, were of inconsistent and substandard quality.
“At times, the tread tracks of a CM-21A1 that just had maintenance completed would get jammed up and slip off after only 10 minutes of use. We reported the problem to our superiors, but there was no follow-up and no response to our report,” the whistler-blower said.
As the replacement pads were supplied by a Taiwanese contractor who sourced the parts from the US, the officer said he suspected the company secured the contract through collusion with officials in the MND’s Armaments Bureau and Army Logistics Command in a rigged tender bid involving kickbacks.
Taiwan began building the CM-21A1 in 1980, and it is one of the army’s main armored fighting vehicles for rapid deployments, allowing the quick maneuvering of infantry and other fighting units during combat.
In response to the allegation, an unnamed officer at the Army Logistics Command said the US firm’s listed price for the part was recently raised to US$9.72, meaning the purchase was only five times more expensive than it should have been.
The officer also said that the ministry would prioritize purchases from domestic companies that can provide required replacement parts and components, as policy dictates that Taiwan’s military be as self-sufficient as possible in terms of its equipment industry.
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