The Taiwanese military has discovered some Chinese-made components installed on its Storm 3 light tactical utility vehicles.
The Chinese parts were mounted by Taipei-based Idano Co, which had been contracted by the country’s defense ministry to provide maintenance and repair services for the vehicles.
The discovery started when soldiers complained about the poor quality of some of the new components fitted on the trucks.
Internal reports about the problem were released in May, and the Taiwanese Ministry of National Defense immediately conducted an investigation.
The ministry said it had already terminated the maintenance contract following the incident.
It also vowed to individually source parts for its military vehicles from now on to avoid the issue from occurring again.
Problematic Program
In 2009, Taiwan contracted domestic Sanyang Motors and an Israeli-based firm to supply its military with more than 3,500 Storm 3 vehicles.
The move aimed to replace the country’s obsolete M151 jeeps and several types of Humvees.
But even during the acquisition process, the light tactical utility vehicle program was plagued with production and delivery issues.
Some military units also complained about the vehicles’ headlights, which reportedly failed to meet military standards.
In an attempt to modernize the Storm 3s, the ministry awarded Idano a contract worth 200 million New Taiwan dollars ($6.3 million) last year.
The move was criticized by Taiwanese lawmakers as the company only had a net worth of 1 million New Taiwan dollars ($31,670) and had to outsource vehicle parts from subcontractors.
