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Navy planning to build a submarine base in mountain along east coast

The navy plans to build a base inside a mountain along the eastern coast for the eight diesel-powered submarines that it will purchase from the US, defense sources said yesterday.

The base will be similar to the air force's Chiashan (佳山) base in Hualien, which is in a hollowed-out mountain and can accommodate over 200 fighter planes.

Because of its similarity to Chiashan, the submarine base will be called Chingshan (景山). The construction project is estimated to cost tens of billions of NT dollars, marking the most ambitious civil engineering effort of the navy in decades.

Given the huge cost of the project, the navy has yet to negotiate with the other services, the army and air force, over how to split the defense budget between them in the years to come.

It is not known whether the navy can get support from the army and air force for the project because it is already the primary recipient of the weapons procurement budget for the next 10 years.

Besides the eight diesel-powered submarines, the navy plans to buy other major items such as four Kidd-class destroyers, 12 P-3C anti-submarine aircraft and an unspecified number of data link systems for the service's aircraft and ships.

All of these items added together are estimated to cost over NT$300 billion, which is more than the annual defense budget.

With so much money to spend within the next decade, navy officials are hesitant about asking for more because it could cause tension with the other services, especially the army.

A navy general, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said it is necessary for the navy to build a special base for the eight diesel-powered submarines to provide maximum security for the subs.

"If the eight subs are to be docked outdoors, the enemy will know when the subs are on duty and when they are not. We need a secret base for the subs so it will be difficult for the enemy to track them," the general said.

"The construction of the secret base will cost a lot of money. If the defense budget doesn't increase, we might not be able to get enough money for the execution of this project," he said.

"We will hope for the best and prepare for the worst. If we can't get the money for the project, we will adopt another plan. One proposal is to build cover for the submarines at the navy's major ports such as the one in Kaohsiung's Tsoying," he said.

"This arrangement would cost much less money."
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