The Hai Kun (海鯤), Taiwan’s first locally built submarine, is said to be departing for its first submerged trials as early as this morning.
The Hai Kun, which underwent a dry-docking on Dec. 5 last year for calibration and maintenance, was undocked and returned to pier No. 91 at Kaohsiung Harbor for surface trials on Wednesday last week.
CSBC Corp, Taiwan on Friday said that submarine testing procedures are highly complex and often take a very long time — especially for a prototype vessel, which, based on foreign experience, can sometimes take more than a year.
Photo courtesy of CSBC Corp, Taiwan
The submarine was first moved from the Haichang facility to CSBC’s small dry dock on Feb. 27, 2024, before shifting to pier 91 at Kaohsiung Harbor on July 15, 2024, to commence harbor acceptance tests.
Counting from July 15, 2024, to the start of pier-based testing, the prototype’s overall trial phase has already exceeded 1.5 years.
On June 14 last year, the Hai Kun left the pier and conducted its first self-powered maneuvering within Kaohsiung Harbor, which was followed by initial sea acceptance tests three days later.
Until Nov. 28 last year, all trials were limited to surface navigation, with no submerged operations conducted, resulting in a delay to the contractually scheduled delivery date of November last year and prompting the navy to impose penalties on CSBC.
If calculated from the first sea trial on June 17 last year, the prototype has so far undergone only seven months of testing.
Given the three upcoming phases — snorkel-depth tests, shallow-water depth tests and deep-water depth tests — it is estimated that completion of all trials is unlikely to occur until at least the middle of this year.
In related news, the US-based Stars and Stripes on Friday reported that the Pentagon forecast that China would have more than 75 submarines by 2030, while the US has 69.
China has rapidly built up its submarine fleet by making a technological U-turn to produce boats the US has not built in more than 65 years, the report said.
More than half of the estimated 66 submarines operated by the Chinese navy are conventionally powered, while the fleet includes more than 20 newer Yuan-class diesel-electric boats, it said.
China’s Yuan-class submarines are about 78m long with a displacement of 3,600 tonnes that can move at 20 knots (37kph) submerged, carrying up to 65 crew, with six torpedo tubes and the capability to launch anti-ship missiles, it said.
Yuan-class ships are built to operate in the relatively shallow South China Sea, with some coastal shelves just 76m below the surface, and many reefs — some of which China has fortified as missile bases or airfields meant to give cover to Chinese ships and submarines if the US and its allies intervene in the region, it said.
In comparison, the main variant of the US Navy’s latest Virginia-class submarine is about 115m long, with a 7,900-tonne displacement and a speed of more than 25 knots, carrying up to 135 crew, with four torpedo tubes and vertical missile launch capability, it said, adding that the US plans on building only two Virginia-class attack submarine this year.
Meanwhile, two aging Los Angeles-class submarines are scheduled for decommissioning this year, the report said.
The navy is still waiting for its first of the new Columbia-class ballistic missile submarines, which is 18 months behind schedule and not expected to be delivered prior to 2030, it said.
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) was sentenced to six months in prison, commutable to a fine, by the New Taipei District Court today for contravening the Personal Data Protection Act (個人資料保護法) in a case linked to an alleged draft-dodging scheme. Wang allegedly paid NT$3.6 million (US$114,380) to an illegal group to help him evade mandatory military service through falsified medical documents, prosecutors said. He transferred the funds to Chen Chih-ming (陳志明), the alleged mastermind of a draft-evasion ring, although he lost contact with him as he was already in detention on fraud charges, they said. Chen is accused of helping a
UNREASONABLE SURVEILLANCE: A camera targeted on an road by a neighbor captured a man’s habitual unsignaled turn into home, netting him dozens of tickets The Taichung High Administrative Court has canceled all 45 tickets given to a man for failing to use a turn signal while driving, as it considered long-term surveillance of his privacy more problematic than the traffic violations. The man, surnamed Tseng (曾), lives in Changhua County and was reported 45 times within a month for failing to signal while driving when he turned into the alley where his residence is. The reports were filed by his neighbor, who set up security cameras that constantly monitored not only the alley but also the door and yard of Tseng’s house. The surveillance occurred from July
SECURITY: Starlink owner Elon Musk has taken pro-Beijing positions, and allowing pro-China companies to control Taiwan’s critical infrastructure is risky, a legislator said Starlink was reluctant to offer services in Taiwan because of the nation’s extremely high penetration rates in 4G and 5G services, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said yesterday. The ministry made the comments at a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee, which reviewed amendments to Article 36 of the Telecommunications Management Act (電信管理法). Article 36 bans foreigners from holding more than 49 percent of shares in public telecommunications networks, while shares foreigners directly and indirectly hold are also capped at 60 percent of the total, unless specified otherwise by law. The amendments, sponsored by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Ko
A Japan Self-Defense Forces vessel entered the Taiwan Strait yesterday, Japanese media reported. After passing through the Taiwan Strait, the Ikazuchi was to proceed to the South China Sea to take part in a joint military exercise with the US and the Philippines, the reports said. Japan Self-Defense Force vessels were first reported to have passed through the strait in September, 2024, with two further transits taking place in February and June last year, the Asahi Shimbun reported. Yesterday’s transit also marked the first time since Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi took office that a Japanese warship has been sent through the Taiwan
RSS