Minister of National Defense Wellington Ku (顧立雄) yesterday said that it would be “challenging” for the builder of the Hai Kun (海鯤) submarine to deliver the ship to the navy next month, as equipment tests and calibration take time.
Ku spoke of progress in readying Taiwan’s first indigenous submarine before attending a briefing at the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee.
“I am confident that the submarine would eventually be completed, but the testing and calibration would take time, and it would be extremely challenging to complete them for delivery to the navy next month,” Ku said.
Photo courtesy of CSBC Corp, Taiwan
The submarine project’s progress was supported by legislators across party lines after the confidential briefing, the navy said in a statement at noon yesterday.
Legislators urged verifying the safety and quality of the submarine before proceeding to sea trials, a navy spokesperson added.
Testing the prototype submarine is being conducted in three phases: surface navigation tests, shallow-water diving tests and deep-water diving tests, the navy said, adding that the submarine entered the surface navigation testing phase on June 17.
So far, three surface navigation tests had been conducted to verify integrated functions of various systems, including propulsion, navigation instruments, communications systems, ship control and periscopes, the navy said.
The submarine was evaluated at CSBC Corp’s dry dock from July 8 to Sept. 2 in three major areas: hull watertightness inspection, equipment calibration, and inspection and maintenance of combat systems, the navy said.
For sea trials, preparations have been completed for the combat and sonar systems, as well as main hydraulics and submarine ballast systems, the navy said.
However, two system groups — the main engine and power management system, and the integrated platform management system (IPMS) — still require testing before the submarine meets the necessary preconditions for diving tests.
Testing of the main engine and power management system takes more time, as it involves multiple contractors and requires coordination to arrange the testing schedule, the navy said, dismissing claims that it had encountered technical issues.
The testing is critical, as it would verify the main engine’s seaworthiness to ensure the vessel’s stability and functionality underway, it said.
Meanwhile, IPMS is a highly automated and integrated system capable of remotely operating and monitoring equipment aboard, the navy said, adding that the hardware of the system has undergone testing, with software modifications and validations ongoing.
CSBC has dispatched additional software engineers to work alongside the original manufacturer to accelerate completion, the navy said.
The testing results of the two systems would be jointly evaluated by the project team, foreign consultants, and the navy officers operating the submarine, the navy said, adding that only after meeting the necessary conditions for safe diving would sea trials be scheduled.
Shallow-water diving tests primarily verify functions related to ship handling, intelligence-gathering equipment, emergency systems and combat management, while deep-water diving tests add functional verification of the vessel’s performance capabilities.
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