Taiwan readies prototype of first indigenous submarine

Seven years in the making, Taiwan’s prototype of its first self-built diesel submarine is being readied for early sea trials in the southern port city of Kaohsiung in early October, a significant achievement, as the government has for decades sought to build up a submarine fleet but struggled to realize its goal. Its principal arms supplier, the US, hasn’t built diesel-electric boats since the 1950s, while pressure from China has caused other countries such as Germany, France, and Japan to shy away.

Government officials told Reuters the Republic of China Navy, known colloquially as the Taiwan Navy, hopes to deploy at least two new, domestically developed subs by 2027, and possibly equip later models with missiles, to strengthen deterrence against the Chinese navy and protect key supply lines.

Taiwan has made the indigenous sub program a key part of an ambitious project to modernize its armed forces. The military has considerably beefed up its national defense budget, to more than the equivalent of US$19 billion, almost a 15 percent increase from 2022 allocations, to boost air and naval combat systems.

That is a fraction of the spending of the PLA military, of course. But as Asia Sentinel reported in January 2021, the Taiwanese military has begun making considerable strides create a “poison shrimp defense,” acquiring weapons that could strike the Chinese mainland instead of having to fight a future invasion force in its own waters, air space, and beaches. The aim is to create a force that could inflict enough damage on the much larger enemy to make it think twice before attacking.

Although the Taiwan ministry of defense disclosed that it allocated US$1.5 billion for the prototype and that eight boats are scheduled to be built, and that they are to be armed with MK-48 anti-submarine and anti-surface warfare torpedoes made by Lockheed Martin, the date the prototype is scheduled to begin service, when further vessels will be constructed, and how much those will cost has not been disclosed.

With Taiwan currently able to field only two World War II vintage subs transferred from The Netherlands in the1970s that are theoretically capable of combat, and with China’s aircraft carriers since recently circling the whole island, the looming sea trials are having Chinese propaganda wires red hot, belittling the island’s herculean effort designed to counter any Chinese attempts to isolate Taiwan from US forces for an invasion or blockade.

As of September 22, popular Chinese video app Douyin has carried a host of commentary alleging, for example, that the launch date was hastened to help the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), with its hallmark anti-China platform, stay in power in Taiwan’s presidential and legislative elections in January. Other commentary labeled corruption the genuine driver of Taipei’s ambitious plans, while others delved into alleged shortcomings in the prototype’s design.

“It does not have sound-absorbing plates and has an effective combat operation range of only 30-40 km due to the lack of air-independent propulsion, so there is no way of the boats achieving their proclaimed aim of threatening military installation in mainland China and weakening the PLA’s replenishment chain,” a voiceover said to footage of one Taiwan’s two aging Dutch-made submarines acquired in the 1980s.

A prominent Chinese military pundit, Chen Haoyang, for his part, picked up on Taiwan’s claims the new boats could sink Chinese aircraft carriers.

“They call it an aircraft carrier-killer, but with their maximum speed of 20 knots, they could not even get close to our highspeed carrier strike groups that sail at 25 knots,” Chen said.

Another commentary referred to international shipbuilding data showing that China's shipbuilding capacity in 2021 accounted for 44.2 percent of global capacity, compared to Taiwan’s 0.296 percent, suggesting that Taiwan’s main shipbuilding company, China Shipbuilding Corporation (CSBC), which has been carrying out the project, is not up to the task.

Indeed, Chinese mainland propaganda is feeding on the murkiness of the deal. In 2018 reports emerged that Gavron Ltd, a Gibraltar-based consultancy, was put in charge of the contract design of the prototype, with a well-informed Taipei-based defense journalist last week confirming to Asia Sentinel that Gavron has indeed carried out the design.