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.
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