U.S. Weapons Shipped to Taiwan Damaged
Inspector General Issues Damning Report on Pentagon Program
China In Arms BOOKSTORE and GIFT SHOP!
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13 September 2024 (Friday)
U.S. Weapons Shipped to Taiwan Damaged
Inspector General Issues Damning Report on Pentagon Program
By Wendell Minnick (Whiskey Mike) 顏文德
TAIPEI - The U.S. Inspector General of the Department of Defense found that the Pentagon transported "unusable and poorly packaged armaments" to Taiwan, which hindered security cooperation and increased the risk of losing confidence in the U.S. as a strategic partner while China continues threatening to invade the island.
The evaluation was part of the U.S. "Presidential Drawdown Authority" (PD) process, which allows the U.S. military to give existing weapons and equipment to Taiwan or other nation-states.
Taiwan’s local media has denounced the U.S. military for providing weapons and equipment that will fail during combat.
The National Defense Authorization Act for FY 2023 authorized the President to draw down up to $1 billion from existing DoD stock to provide military assistance to Taiwan.
On 28 July 2023, the President authorized the drawdown of up to $345 million of DoD defense articles and services to provide assistance to Taiwan.
Not to piss on the parade, but Taiwan already manufactures all the equipment noted in the Inspector General report and it is unclear why Taiwan procures these defense items from the U.S. See the 500-page Taiwan Army Weapons and Equipment, including Marine Corps.
According to the Inspector General report:
The DoD did not effectively or efficiently implement accountability and quality controls for PD items delivered to Taiwan from November 2023 through March 2024. Specifically, more than 340 of 504 total pallets of PD items (about 67 percent) sustained water damage while they remained at the APOE for more than 3 months pending air transport to Taiwan. This occurred because the Army did not begin initiating requests for Special Airlift Assignment Mission (SAAM) flights for these items until December 2023, and the APOE was not equipped with sufficient storage capacity or able to fully mitigate the exposure of the items to adverse weather conditions
Additionally, the DoD provided unserviceable and poorly packaged equipment and munitions to Taiwan. In December 2023, the DoD delivered to Taiwan 120 of these 340 water damaged pallets (about 35 percent), which, according to AIT personnel, contained wet and moldy body armor. Furthermore, in December 2023, Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense (MND) issued a letter to the AIT SCO [American Institute in Taiwan - Security Cooperation Office] stating that Taiwan received 2.7 million rounds of ammunition from the DoD, including some that was expired, in a mix of original, loose, and incorrect packaging. This occurred because losing units did not comply with shipping standards.
According to internal emails from the AIT, on December 28 and December 29, 2023, 120 water-damaged pallets containing more than 3,000 mildewed body armor plates and 500 wet and moldy tactical vests arrived at the aerial port of debarkation at Taipei International Airport.
According to AIT personnel, the water-damaged tri-walls delivered to Taipei International Airport contained vests and plates that were “soaking wet and full of mold.”
These shipments included an estimated 2.7 million rounds of ammunition manufactured in 1983 that were poorly packaged, which made it difficult for Taiwanese personnel to inventory and account for the ammunition.
Security personnel from the 60 APS brought to our attention six M240B machine guns that were shipped to Travis AFB for onward movement to Taiwan loose in a large cardboard box without any wrapping or cushioning, which was required by MIL-STD-2073-1E.
Taiwan already manufactures the M240 as the T74 at the 205th Arsenal. It is unclear why Taiwan needs to procure this machine gun from the U.S. See Taiwan Army Weapons and Equipment, including Marine Corps.
Download Full Report (30-pages):
PRESS RELEASES:
11 SEPTEMBER 2024:
Press Release: Evaluation of the DoD’s Tracking and Accountability of Presidential Drawdown Equipment Provided to Taiwan (DODIG-2024-130)
Evaluation
Inspector General Robert P. Storch announced today that the Department of Defense Office of Inspector General released the “Evaluation of the DoD’s Tracking and Accountability of Presidential Drawdown Equipment Provided to Taiwan.”
The evaluation found that the DoD did not effectively and efficiently implement accountability controls for Presidential Drawdown equipment delivered to Taiwan from November 2023 through March 2024.
"This report demonstrates the significant negative consequences of failing to follow established DoD policies for delivery of assistance to key security cooperation partners,” said IG Storch.
“Had policies been followed, the DoD would have been able to provide Taiwan with military equipment in acceptable condition as mandated in the Presidential Drawdown Authority. Instead, the equipment arrived in Taiwan damaged and moldy. Such performance risks eroding Taiwan’s confidence in the United States as a reliable source of assistance.”
The DoD OIG identified more than 340 pallets of equipment that sustained water damage while stored at Travis Air Force Base for three months, pending a flight to Taiwan. This resulted in the United States incurring at least $730,000 in additional costs. Furthermore, the DoD OIG found that the DoD delivered equipment to Taiwan that was not mission-ready—preventing the DoD from meeting security cooperation goals.
The DoD OIG made several recommendations for the Director of the Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA), including developing a plan for drafting Presidential Drawdown execute orders. The plan should explain each Service’s specific responsibilities and timelines related to the shipment of Presidential Drawdown equipment to the port of embarkation and for requesting delivery of the equipment to ports of debarkation.
The DoD OIG will continue monitoring the DoD’s progress toward full implementation of these recommendations.
Evaluation of the DoD’s Tracking and Accountability of Presidential Drawdown Equipment Provided to Taiwan (DODIG-2024-130)
Evaluation
The objective of this evaluation was to determine whether the DoD effectively and efficiently implemented accountability and quality controls for items provided to Taiwan using the Presidential Drawdown Authority. We also assessed the DoD’s tracking and inventorying of the presidential drawdown (PD) items and the sufficiency of the DoD’s processes to ensure that the PD items met applicable standards.
The Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Regional Security has said that Taiwan is a key U.S. partner in the Indo-Pacific, as well as a chief supplier of semiconductors vital to the global economy and U.S. defense manufacturing. With the marked increase in People’s Liberation Army air and military activity around Taiwan since 2021, the United States prioritized strengthening Taiwan’s defense capabilities by using the Presidential Drawdown Authority to directly transfer existing U.S. military stock to Taiwan. On July 28, 2023, the President authorized the drawdown of up to $345 million in DoD defense articles and services to Taiwan.
