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
FREEDOM OF NAVIGATION: The UK would continue to reinforce ties with Taiwan ‘in a wide range of areas’ as a part of a ‘strong unofficial relationship,’ a paper said The UK plans to conduct more freedom of navigation operations in the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea, British Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs David Lammy told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. British Member of Parliament Desmond Swayne said that the Royal Navy’s HMS Spey had passed through the Taiwan Strait “in pursuit of vital international freedom of navigation in the South China Sea.” Swayne asked Lammy whether he agreed that it was “proper and lawful” to do so, and if the UK would continue to carry out similar operations. Lammy replied “yes” to both questions. The
‘OF COURSE A COUNTRY’: The president outlined that Taiwan has all the necessary features of a nation, including citizens, land, government and sovereignty President William Lai (賴清德) discussed the meaning of “nation” during a speech in New Taipei City last night, emphasizing that Taiwan is a country as he condemned China’s misinterpretation of UN Resolution 2758. The speech was the first in a series of 10 that Lai is scheduled to give across Taiwan. It is the responsibility of Taiwanese citizens to stand united to defend their national sovereignty, democracy, liberty, way of life and the future of the next generation, Lai said. This is the most important legacy the people of this era could pass on to future generations, he said. Lai went on to discuss
MISSION: The Indo-Pacific region is ‘the priority theater,’ where the task of deterrence extends across the entire region, including Taiwan, the US Pacific Fleet commander said The US Navy’s “mission of deterrence” in the Indo-Pacific theater applies to Taiwan, Pacific Fleet Commander Admiral Stephen Koehler told the South China Sea Conference on Tuesday. The conference, organized by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), is an international platform for senior officials and experts from countries with security interests in the region. “The Pacific Fleet’s mission is to deter aggression across the Western Pacific, together with our allies and partners, and to prevail in combat if necessary, Koehler said in the event’s keynote speech. “That mission of deterrence applies regionwide — including the South China Sea and Taiwan,” he
UNPRECEDENTED: In addition to the approved recall motions, cases such as Ma Wen-chun’s in Nantou are still under review, while others lack enough signatures The Central Election Commission (CEC) announced yesterday that a recall vote would take place on July 26, after it approved the first batch of recall motions targeting 24 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers and Hsinchu Mayor Ann Kao (高虹安). Taiwan is in the midst of an unprecedented wave of mass recall campaigns, following a civil society push that echoed a call made by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) in January to initiate signature drives aimed at unseating KMT legislators. Under the Civil Servants Election and Recall Act (公職人員選舉罷免法), Taiwanese can initiate a recall of district-elected lawmakers by collecting
RSS