Taiwan’s first indigenous submarine, the Hai Kun (海鯤), or Narwhal, yesterday departed from Kaohsiung to start its first submerged sea trial, where it was expected to dive to at least 50m.
CSBC Corp, Taiwan (台灣國際造船) on Wednesday announced the trial, marking the first time the shipbuilder has publicly disclosed the submarine’s testing schedule.
The submerged trials would proceed in stages, beginning with snorkel-depth testing at depths of 10m to 20m to verify watertight integrity, underwater balance and stability, as well as the functionality and integration of all onboard systems, CSBC said.
Photo: CNA
That would be followed by shallow-water submerged trials at depths of 50m to 100m, it said.
Deep-water submerged trials would be conducted from 100m to the submarine’s maximum design depth, again testing watertightness and balance stability, with pressure resistance evaluated progressively from shallow to deeper waters, it said.
After the submerged trials are completed, the submarine would enter the evaluation testing phase, the first stage of which involves technical evaluations conducted by the shipbuilder to verify that the platform and combat systems meet operational requirements, CSBC said.
Photo: RITCHIE B. TONGO, EPA
Test items would include endurance, underwater noise levels, sonar performance, combat systems and simulated weapons launches, it added.
After completing the tests, the submarine would be delivered to the navy for tactical evaluation, it said.
The submarine would operate in designated exercise areas to conduct technical and tactical assessments to verify overall combat capability, CSBC said, adding that test items would include live weapons firing, single-vessel tactical employment, multivessel coordinated operations and long-duration patrol maturity testing.
Photo: An Rong Xu, Bloomberg
Separately, the military yesterday simulated repelling a Chinese assault from the sea, integrating shore-launched missiles and drones with fast patrol boats to stop an attempted invasion.
An invasion of Taiwan is thought to be extremely difficult given that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) would have to first cross the Taiwan Strait and attack the limited number of beaches on Taiwan proper that are suitable for amphibious landing.
The drill, which took place on a beach that forms part of the Zuoying naval base in Kaohsiung, simulated a scenario in which Taiwan detects an unknown boat loitering off the coast and sends drones to investigate. Taiwanese attack drones and fast, missile-armed patrol boats are then pressed into action.
Snipers engaged enemy forces and Taiwan-made anti-ship Hsiung Feng (雄風, “Brave Wind”) missiles took aim from concealed mobile launchers on the beach.
Republic of China Marine Corps officer, speaking anonymously for security reasons, told reporters that the near-shore exercise with coordinated strike missions built a “kill chain and effectively executed joint interceptions.”
“That demonstrated the navy’s multilayered, multi-wave defensive combat effectiveness, as well as the marine’s combat power and resilience in rapidly taking control from both the sea and the land,” he added.
The military routinely holds drills ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday.
Earlier this week, the military showed how its US-made High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) would be used to hit Penghu County should Chinese forces seize the islands and use them as a base to launch strikes on Taiwan proper.
The HIMARS, one of Taiwan’s newest and most precise strike weapons, has been used extensively by Ukraine against Russian forces.
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