Summary and Key Points: Taiwan’s first domestically built submarine, Hai Kun-Class (also known as Narwhal), completed its maiden underwater sea trial on January 30 off Kaohsiung, marking a key milestone in Taipei’s indigenous submarine program.
-The boat is intended to anchor an eight-sub fleet that would modernize the Republic of China Navy, which currently relies on two Dutch-built Hai Lung-class boats and two WWII-era training submarines.
-The program has faced delays and heavy external pressure, but the new design is expected to field a Lockheed Martin combat system and U.S.-made Mark 48 torpedoes. Further trials and system tests continue under navy supervision.
Eight Submarines Planned: Taiwan’s $1.58 Billion Hai Kun-Class Sends a Message to Beijing
Taiwan’s first domestically built submarine has completed its maiden underwater sea trial. The trial took place on January 30 off the port of Kaohsiung in the south of the island.
Taiwan’s state-owned shipbuilding enterprise, CSBC Corporation, announced the submarine successfully carried out a shallow-water submerged navigation test.
The shipbuilder called it an important milestone for the island’s indigenous submarine program.
The program is named Hai Kun but has also been known as Narwhal, and it is the first of its kind to be built under Taiwan’s drive to develop its own submarines.
If the program is successful, Taiwan will achieve autonomy in the production of a strategically important weapon platform.
The scheduled production is for eight subs. The last boat’s delivery will signal that the island-nation has a modern undersea fleet that brings the Republic of China Navy into the 21st century and puts it on par with its neighbors in Japan and South Korea.
Currently, Taiwan operates a small, aging submarine fleet of only four boats. These include two 1980s Dutch-built Hai Lung-class subs and two even older World War II-era Hai Shih-class designs that are kept in service as training platforms.
Submarine Technology Transfer
Taiwan has made their new submarine program a top priority and regards it as a keystone of its military modernization plans. The island democracy is also constantly under the threat from mainland China. Beijing still claims the island as territory that “belongs to China” and insists Taiwan is not an independent nation. Beijing always refers to the island as a “renegade province.”
Beijing officials have been more insistent in recent years about their ambitions to take control of Taiwan—using military force if necessary—by 2027.
The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) continues to conduct frequent military harassment flights around the island to try and intimidate the Taiwanese government and population.
In designing and building these subs, Taipei sought assistance and technology transfers from a number of nations with mature submarine industries, in particular the United States and the United Kingdom.
CSBC representatives say the program has faced multiple complications since it began—most specifically what it called “international constraints and external pressure that complicated development.”
“In plain English what that means is that Beijing does not want the ROC to be able to build these subs because it would of course complicate any attempts by People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) to conduct an amphibious landing,” said a retired Western military intelligence officer who for decades has followed Beijing’s plans to take over Taiwan.
“Beijing is likely to fight the plans for any nation to assist Taipei in this program,” he explained. “The subs could have a much greater success in upending some part of their invasion plan than the ROC receiving new fighter aircraft or other modern weapons.”
Delays and Revised Program
The Hai Kun was scheduled for delivery to the ROC Navy in 2024. Initially, it would have joined the two Dutch 40-plus-year-old Hai Lung models in service, with subsequent subs eventually replacing the Netherlands-built boats.
In the meantime, the project has suffered some delays. Taipei’s original plan was to deliver at least two submarines by 2027. The boats to be delivered after the first two models would be equipped with missiles to make them full-fledged attack submarines.
Taiwan’s World War II-era Submarines. Image Credit: ROC Navy.
The first submarine is reported to have cost about $1.58 billion. It is planned to be equipped with a combat system supplied by Lockheed Martin and will also be loaded with U.S.-produced Mark 48 heavyweight torpedoes.
The Hai Kun design was originally introduced in September 2023 and was billed as the Republic of China’s most important domestic defense project in decades. No details have been publicly released, but the sub is estimated to be around 70 meters long with a displacement of about 2,500 tons.
The design is based on the older Dutch Hai Lung models but incorporates cross-form rudders to enhance maneuverability in shallow waters. CSBC said further sea trials and system tests will continue under the supervision of the ROC Navy, with engineering support from foreign technical advisers.
About the Author: Reuben F. Johnson
Reuben F. Johnson has thirty-six years of experience analyzing and reporting on foreign weapons systems, defense technologies, and international arms export policy. Johnson is the Director of Research at the Casimir Pulaski Foundation. He is also a survivor of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. He worked for years in the American defense industry as a foreign technology analyst and later as a consultant for the U.S. Department of Defense, the Departments of the Navy and Air Force, and the governments of the United Kingdom and Australia. In 2022-2023, he won two awards in a row for his defense reporting. He holds a bachelor’s degree from DePauw University and a master’s degree from Miami University in Ohio, specializing in Soviet and Russian studies. He lives in Warsaw.