Mouldy armour and expired ammunition were among “unserviceable” US military equipment delivered to Taiwan recently, and the island’s defence ministry says it is looking into the issue.
The items in question were delivered between November and March under the US Presidential Drawdown Authority (PDA).
The shipments included 120 water-damaged pallets containing more than 3,000 body armour plates and 500 tactical vests that were “soaking wet and covered in mould”, according to the US Office of Inspector General (OIG), which launched an investigation after the matter was flagged by the Taiwanese defence ministry.
Additionally, some of the 2.7 million rounds of poorly packaged ammunition were manufactured in 1983 and had expired, the US Department of Defence oversight agency said.
They were also “in a mix of original, substitute, and loose packaging”, making it difficult for the Taiwanese military to “accurately manage or inventory” the ammunition.