The Ministry of National Defense has terminated a contract for maintenance of army jeeps with Idano Co (壹達諾汽車系統) after finding Chinese parts in components supplied by the firm, a high-ranking defense official said yesterday.
The Army Command Headquarters said it terminated the contract following a review of internal reports released in May that showed the contractor was supplying the military’s Storm 3 light tactical utility vehicles with parts made in China.
The command requested and obtained ministry authorization to terminate the contract, it said, adding that army units are to individually source parts for their vehicles until a new service-wide contract is awarded.
Photo: Military News Agency
Idano in November last year was awarded a NT$200 million (US$6.35 million) contract to maintain the military’s Storm 3 utility trucks, said the official, who asked to remain anonymous.
The company sourced the parts from subcontractors, the official added.
The move was widely criticized by lawmakers and media firms, as Idano had a net worth of just NT$1 million at the time, the official said.
Military personnel complained about poor quality control of parts supplied by Idano and the discovery of Chinese parts was the last straw for army brass, the official said.
In 2009, the ministry awarded Sanyang Motors (三陽工業) and AEI, an Israel-based firm, a NT$4.8 billion contract to supply the armed forces with 3,598 Storm 3 vehicles to replace M151 jeeps and several types of Humvee.
The military ordered three Storm 3 variants, the soft-top, the soft-top with a machine gun mount and the hard-top.
The project was plagued with production issues, including headlights that failed to meet army standards, which delayed initial delivery of the vehicles from 2011 to late 2015.
Some military units that received the trucks have complained about their build quality.
The army has said that the Storm 3 project was conducted in accordance to the law.
In other news, the ministry on Monday announced that the Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology has been awarded a NT$916 million limited-bidding contract to maintain the army’s 17 CS/MPQ-90 Bee Eye mobile air defense phased array radar systems until December 2025.
The Bee Eye contract ensures the continued maintenance of the army’s mobile radar systems after the expiry of the manufacturer’s two-year warranty following their deployment in 2014, contract notification documents showed.
The contract allocated NT$204.39 million for this year, but gave no details about figures beyond that.
The vehicle-mounted radar systems are a key component of the military’s airspace defense, with their mobility providing an advantage over fixed systems if they are attacked.
Eleven more Bee Eye systems have been ordered to be deployed in Taiwan’s outlying counties starting this year.
Additional reporting by Aaron Tu
CARROT AND STICK: While unrelenting in its military threats, China attracted nearly 40,000 Taiwanese to over 400 business events last year Nearly 40,000 Taiwanese last year joined industry events in China, such as conferences and trade fairs, supported by the Chinese government, a study showed yesterday, as Beijing ramps up a charm offensive toward Taipei alongside military pressure. China has long taken a carrot-and-stick approach to Taiwan, threatening it with the prospect of military action while reaching out to those it believes are amenable to Beijing’s point of view. Taiwanese security officials are wary of what they see as Beijing’s influence campaigns to sway public opinion after Taipei and Beijing gradually resumed travel links halted by the COVID-19 pandemic, but the scale of
TRADE: A mandatory declaration of origin for manufactured goods bound for the US is to take effect on May 7 to block China from exploiting Taiwan’s trade channels All products manufactured in Taiwan and exported to the US must include a signed declaration of origin starting on May 7, the Bureau of Foreign Trade announced yesterday. US President Donald Trump on April 2 imposed a 32 percent tariff on imports from Taiwan, but one week later announced a 90-day pause on its implementation. However, a universal 10 percent tariff was immediately applied to most imports from around the world. On April 12, the Trump administration further exempted computers, smartphones and semiconductors from the new tariffs. In response, President William Lai’s (賴清德) administration has introduced a series of countermeasures to support affected
Pope Francis is be laid to rest on Saturday after lying in state for three days in St Peter’s Basilica, where the faithful are expected to flock to pay their respects to history’s first Latin American pontiff. The cardinals met yesterday in the Vatican’s synod hall to chart the next steps before a conclave begins to choose Francis’ successor, as condolences poured in from around the world. According to current norms, the conclave must begin between May 5 and 10. The cardinals set the funeral for Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square, to be celebrated by the dean of the College
CROSS-STRAIT: The vast majority of Taiwanese support maintaining the ‘status quo,’ while concern is rising about Beijing’s influence operations More than eight out of 10 Taiwanese reject Beijing’s “one country, two systems” framework for cross-strait relations, according to a survey released by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Thursday. The MAC’s latest quarterly survey found that 84.4 percent of respondents opposed Beijing’s “one country, two systems” formula for handling cross-strait relations — a figure consistent with past polling. Over the past three years, opposition to the framework has remained high, ranging from a low of 83.6 percent in April 2023 to a peak of 89.6 percent in April last year. In the most recent poll, 82.5 percent also rejected China’s
RSS