Citing a report last month from the Department of Defense’s Office of the Inspector General, Ernst demanded answers regarding the shipment of “substandard equipment” to Taiwan between November 2023 and March 2024, including “moldy” body armor and other water-damaged equipment.
“According to the IG’s findings, between November 2023 and March 2024, the Department of
Defense failed to follow established guidelines for delivering military assistance to Taiwan,” she wrote in a letter to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin. “More than 67% of the equipment — including over 340 pallets — sustained water damage while stored at Travis Air Force Base for three months due to inadequate storage facilities. This resulted in the shipment of over 3,000 moldy body armor plates and 500 wet tactical vests, equipment that is essential for the safety of Taiwanese personnel.”
“Additionally, the report indicates that 2.7 million rounds of ammunition provided to Taiwan included expired stock and packaging errors, further raising concerns about quality control,” Ernst continued.
Aside from reputational damage to the United States, the report found that it cost taxpayers $730,000 in attempts to clean and salvage the damaged body armor.
“These inefficiencies delay the critical support Taiwan needs, jeopardize America’s position as a reliable security partner, and waste taxpayer money,” Ernst wrote.
She said the failure also threatened to have wider strategic implications at a time when tensions with China were rising.
“This situation presents not only operational risks for Taiwan but also a broader strategic risk to U.S. credibility,” Ernst argued. “As the report stresses, these failures could severely undermine Taiwan’s confidence in the United States at a time when the region faces growing security challenges. With ongoing tensions in the Indo-Pacific, the U.S. cannot afford to weaken its commitments or lose the trust of critical partners and allies.”
In a statement to the Washington Examiner, the Iowa senator connected the faulty shipments with the withdrawal from Afghanistan, casting it as a wider failure of the Biden administration.
“Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are more effective in arming our adversaries than our allies and partners,” Ernst said. “While the Taliban holds parades showing off the billions of dollars of American military equipment left behind, our partner Taiwan has been handed defective ammunition from another century and body armor that is a health hazard. We need competent leaders back in the White House who understand that you should be supporting your friends and undercutting your adversaries, not the other way around.”
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The Washington Examiner reached out to the Pentagon for comment on the quality of equipment sent to Taiwan.
Ernst has repeatedly hit the Biden administration in recent months over its allocation of funds regarding foreign adversaries, including sending millions of dollars to the Taliban and China.
