Taiwan, a self-governing island in Asia, is not only famous for its dominance in the global semiconductor sector but can now also call itself a submarine-maker after it unveiled its first underwater vessel on Thursday.
The submarine, named “Hai Kun” in Mandarin and “Narwhal” in English, was built by a team of 1,003 engineers, technicians and specialists at the Kaohsiung dockyard of CSBC Corporation. It will be delivered to Taiwan’s navy by the end of 2024 and begin service in 2025.
Hai Kun has a displacement weight of about 2,500 to 3,000 tons. It can carry 18 MK-48 torpedoes, which are worth US$10 million each for a total of $180 million and which are to be delivered from the US to Taiwan in 2025. With a lead-acid battery, it can stay quietly on a battlefield for up to four days.
If the Legislative Yuan approves more budget, Taiwan can build another submarine for use starting in 2027, according to the island’s National Ministry of Defense. Future models will be able to carry submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs).
By comparison, South Korea launched its first domestically-made KSS III submarine, called “Dosan Ahn Chang-ho,” in September 2018. The 3,000-ton submarine went into service in 2021. About 76% of the vessel’s parts were locally produced. It can carry SLBMs.
Taiwan’s plan to build its first home-made submarine was implemented after Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen became the island’s leader in 2016.
“History will remember this day,” Tsai said in a speech during the submarine’s launch ceremony on Thursday. “In the past, many people thought building an indigenous submarine would be an impossible task. But we have made it.”
Admiral Huang Shu-kuang, a senior adviser to the National Security Council, which led the program, praised Tsai for her vision and planning in the making of Hai Kun. He said submarine-building is now a huge part of the defense industry in Taiwan, which now possesses its own submarine blueprint and 85 self-developed components.
The submarine also has a political meaning for Taiwanese politics as it was launched ahead of the island’s presidential election coming up in January 2024. As of now, Lai Ching-te, a presidential election candidate representing the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), is leading in polls, as opposition parties have failed to form an alliance so far.
This combination of course makes Beijing unhappy. “The DPP authorities have clung stubbornly to the separatist position for ‘Taiwan independence,’ squandered hard-earned money of people in Taiwan and sought to create antagonism and confrontation across the Taiwan Strait, which will only undermine cross-Strait peace and stability,” Mao Ning, a spokesperson of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said Thursday.
She added that Taiwan is an inalienable part of China’s territory while the reunification of the two sides of the Taiwan Strait must and will be realized.
In the long run, Taiwan wants to make eight submarines. It could use a fleet of six indigenous submarines, following the rule of threes – one on patrol, one under maintenance, and one doing pre-deployment training.
These submarines could be used to ensure that Taiwan’s Hualien and Kaohsiung remain open against a potential Chinese blockade intended to prevent US reinforcements and resupply.
Self-sufficiency
Reuters reported in November 2021 that at least seven countries were helping Taiwan to build its first indigenous defense submarine. It said the United States and United Kingdom sold submarine systems and parts to Taiwan while the island also hired engineers, technicians and former naval officers from Australia, South Korea, India, Spain and Canada.
In late 2016, CSBC Corp was granted a budget of NT$49.36 billion (US$1.54 billion) to build the indigenous sub. It reportedly had fine-tuned the blueprint of the submarine more than 700 times over the past seven years.
Cheng Wen-Lon, chairman of CSBC Corp, said about 60% of the budget was spent on purchasing foreign military equipment and materials.
“During the construction of the submarine, the most difficult task was to source foreign equipment and parts and apply for export licenses,” Cheng said. “Our team tried to source as many local components as possible. Hai Kun has achieved 40% self-sufficiency.”
He said submarine equipment is classified into three types – red, yellow and green zones. He said red zone items, including combat systems, digital sonar systems, diesel engines, telescopes, torpedo launchers and missile systems, cannot be sourced in Taiwan; yellow zone ones are difficult to obtain but have the potential to be produced locally; and green zone ones can be made on the island.
He said Taiwan has so far been able to self supply 85 green zone items, including a flush toilet, an air-tight door, a seawater desalination system, a hydraulic system and an air-conditioning system, all of which must meet the submarine’s low-noise standard.
Besides, he said, the company sourced more than 107 red zone items, including Lockheed Martin’s combat system and Raytheon’s sonar system.
In the first nine months of 2022, the United Kingdom approved the exports of submarine parts worth￡167 million (US$202 million) to Taiwan, Reuters reported in March this year. The amount is more than the previous six years combined.
Political headwinds
The team that built Hai Kun includes 861 workers from CSBC Corp, 30 researchers from the National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology, 40 officers from the navy’s 256th Submarine Squadron, 34 researchers from the navy’s development center and seven officers from the defense ministry.
The personnel in the program were all subject to monitoring by a military security division to ensure no secrets were leaked, Huang said. But still, information leakage had occurred during the procurement process, he said.
He said a Taiwanese arms seller that lost a bid to a foreign firm disclosed the procurement information to Chinese diplomats, who then put diplomatic pressure on the country where the winning bidder is situated. He said one foreign supplier had pulled out of the program due to this incident.
Last September, Wang Chih-pang, a former Taiwanese naval captain, predicted that the making of the Taiwanese submarine would fail as the manufacturer could not obtain three red zone items: sound-absorbing coating and ceramics, an air-independent propulsion (AIP) system and electronic warfare countermeasure equipment.
Citing Wang’s comments, mainland Chinese media said Taiwan’s submarine would not be able to extend its endurance under the water for weeks without an AIP system.
The Taiwanese navy retorted that Wang’s criticism was groundless and the progress of building Taiwan’s first self-developed submarine was smooth. It also said Wang lacked the specialized knowledge to justify the comments.
Euan Graham, a China export at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, told Breaking Defense that it was impressive that Taiwan successfully made its own submarine against very strong political headwinds that apparently affected the supply of equipment.
Read: Taiwan’s homemade subs may or may not deter China
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