More than 4,500 uncertified bulletproof vests and helmets were still issued to grassroots units for use
In the past five years, the Taiwanese Ministry of Defense provided approximately 122,000 sets of protective helmets, bulletproof vests, and ballistic plates to military personnel. The majority of these were allocated to the army, navy, and air force. However, this batch of protective helmets and combat vests, lacking TAF (Taiwan Accreditation Foundation) certification, exceeded 45,000 items and has all been distributed to grassroots units for use.
The report further indicates that some informed retired Taiwanese military procurement personnel even mentioned that the ballistic plates used in making bulletproof vests and helmets only need to be sent to the Dafu Army Test Site ("Military Bureau Specification Testing Center" Weapon Testing Ground) for sampling and pass live ammunition tests. For products of the same batch number, in addition to marking them as qualified in the testing report, the TAF logo must be stamped in the upper right corner of the report to prove compliance with international standards.
The source emphasized that as long as the ballistic plates sent for verification are qualified, the testing report should unquestionably bear the TAF certification stamp – "it is absolutely impossible not to stamp it."
This is not the first time controversy has arisen over Taiwanese military ballistic plates.New Taipei City Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) councilor Lin Bingyou collaborated with the internet-famous firearms enthusiast "Uncle Sam Gun&Fun" to release a test video. They claimed to have obtained ballistic plates produced by Taiwan's "Military Bureau" 205th Arsenal in 2020 and tested them with live ammunition in the United States. The result showed severe deformation of the impact points on the ballistic plates, almost penetrating them. Lin questioned whether the protective capability of the ballistic plates met the requirements of modern warfare.