The Ministry of National Defense of the Republic of China purchased RDX explosive from Fu Mai International, but the company failed to obtain an export permit on time. As a result, the Ministry fined and confiscated the performance bond from the winning bidder. The Ministry stated that they will expand their in-house production line using additional or annual budgets, all of which will be manufactured by the Armaments Bureau.
In the RDX explosive procurement case by the Armaments Bureau of the Ministry of National Defense of the Republic of China, Fu Mai International won the bid at the end of 2025 with a bid price of NT$570 million. Fu Mai International failed to obtain the export permit on time. Lieutenant General Lin Wenxiang, head of the Armaments Bureau, stated on the 20th that the contract termination conditions had been met, and a total of NT$83.98 million in confiscation of the performance bond and late penalties were imposed, with the blacklisting of the non-compliant vendor.
Regarding the procurement of the “RDX explosive” high-energy explosive, the Ministry of National Defense of the Republic of China issued a press release on the 21st, stating that in response to the threat of the enemy, the military conducted an open tender in 2025 to purchase this type of explosive to enhance asymmetric warfare capabilities. A special budget allocation was made to expand the in-house production capacity. As the winning bidder was unable to obtain the “export import permit documentation” as per the contract, the Ministry of National Defense not only imposed penalties but also confiscated the performance bond. They will utilize additional or annual budgets to expand the in-house production line, all of which will be produced by the Armaments Bureau.
The Ministry of National Defense explained that the raw materials for “RDX explosive” and similar explosives are items that domestic manufacturers do not have the production capacity for. Therefore, in accordance with government procurement regulations, public tendering and “buying domestically but importing from abroad” were adopted. In the process, in order to attract a wide range of suppliers, the qualification criteria for manufacturers were set as “legal establishment or registration certificate”, “business scope (international trade business)” and “tax payment certificate”, encouraging domestic manufacturers to participate.
The case was published on October 20, 2025, for public tendering, and Fu Mai Company was awarded the bid on December 2 of the same year and the contract was signed on December 9. As Fu Mai Company did not comply with the contract terms to provide the “export import permit documentation” within 180 calendar days from the date of bid award, daily fines were imposed at a rate of 0.2% of the total contract price starting from June 1 of the same year, accumulating to NT$42,758,930. By July 6, the 36-day delay exceeded the termination conditions, leading to contract termination. The performance bond of NT$41.23 million was confiscated, and administrative penalties such as suspension were imposed.
The Ministry of National Defense emphasized that “in the face of severe threats from the enemy and the difficult challenges of acquiring weapons and ammunition from abroad, the military will continue to conduct various weapon equipment procurement operations in accordance with actual defense needs. They will also enhance qualification review and performance supervision to maintain national defense security.”