Pending the successful completion of the nation’s first indigenous submarine in September next year, the Executive Yuan might allocate a budget of as much NT$300 billion (US$10 billion) for seven additional submarines, a source said.
The military’s medium and long-term plans call for eight submarines to meet defense needs, so the government is keen to get started on additional submarines if the first one passes tests, the source said, adding that the legislature would need to approve the budget.
The budget for the first submarine, codenamed the Haichang Project, was NT$49.3 billion to be spent from 2019 to 2025 for expenses including manufacturing and hardware.
Photo: Hung Chen-hung, Taipei Times
The exact cost of the proposed seven submarines would depend on the exchange rate, raw material prices, procurement costs and other factors, the source said.
However, given that facilities are already in place, the additional submarines are expected to cost less than the first unit, the source said, adding that the facilities can accommodate simultaneous construction and maintenance operations for three submarines.
Six pressure hull sections and sail cover sections of the first unit are complete, and the completed sections have passed strength testing, the source said.
Several pieces of “red zone equipment,” such as the sonar system, have also been procured, and the torpedo tubes have been installed for testing, the source said.
Forty officers from the navy’s 256th Submarine Squadron are on hand at CSBC Corp, Taiwan (台船) facilities where the submarine is being built, studying the vessel’s operation, and preparing for handover and testing, the source said.
“They are assisting the engineers with the construction process, and they will be the seeds of the submarine program that will go on to train others,” the source said.
Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Wang Ting-yu (王定宇) on Tuesday said that the production of additional submarines would be easier, but added that the procurement of components from overseas would depend on foreign authorities.
The Ministry of Transportation and Communications yesterday inaugurated the Danjiang Bridge across the Tamsui River in New Taipei City, saying that the structure would be an architectural icon and traffic artery for Taiwan. Feted as a major engineering achievement, the Danjiang Bridge is 920m long, 211m tall at the top of its pylon, and is the longest single-pylon asymmetric cable-stayed bridge in the world, the government’s Web site for the structure said. It was designed by late Iraqi-British architect Zaha Hadid. The structure, with a maximum deck of 70m, accommodates road and light rail traffic, and affords a 200m navigation channel for boats,
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