On September 28, 2023, at the enterprise of the Taiwan Shipbuilding Corporation CSBC in Kaohsiung, a presentation ceremony, official naming and launching of the first diesel-electric submarine of Taiwanese construction, named SS 711 Hai Kung ( 海 ,, - "Haikun"), took place. The ceremony was attended by the President of the Republic of China (Taiwan) Jiang Yingwei. After the ceremony, the almost finished submarine was removed from the boathouse to the CSBC floating dock No. 8, where its hydraulic and mooring tests began on October 1. The start of the Hai Kung factory sea trials is scheduled for April 2024 with plans to transfer the boat to the Navy of the Republic of China (Taiwan) at the end of 2024 or in 2025. With its construction as part of the national Indigenous Defense Submarine (IDS) program, Taiwan joined the narrow club of countries engaged in independent design and construction of submarines.
The first diesel-electric submarine of Taiwanese construction SS 711 Hai Kung at the naming and launching ceremony at the enterprise of the Taiwan Shipbuilding Corporation CSBC in Kaohsiung, 09/28/2023 (c) the press service of the President of the Republic of China
In total, according to the IDS program, it is planned to build eight large non-nuclear submarines for the Taiwan Navy, with the possibility of increasing to ten (for the possibility of replacing two Dutch-built submarines of the Chien Lung type currently in the Taiwanese fleet). In May 2019, the Taiwan Navy signed a contract with CSBC Corporation for the construction of a lead submarine under the IDS program. The completion of the design of the boat with the release of working drawings and documentation were completed by the end of 2020, and on November 16, 2021, the official laying ceremony of the first submarine under construction in Taiwan (construction number 1168), now completed and named SS 711 Hai Kung, took place at the new shipbuilding complex at the CSBC shipyard in Kaohsiung. Given the complete lack of experience in underwater shipbuilding in Taiwan, the pace of design and construction of the first Taiwanese submarine is very impressive. It is stated that the second boat should be commissioned into the Taiwanese navy by 2027.
The name of the first Taiwanese submarine in the Chinese spirit is very symbolic. The names of the four submarines of the Navy of the Republic of China, which are in service, are formed by adding to the name of the animal the hieroglyph "Y" ("Hai" - "sea" - for example, "Sea dragon" or "Sea Tiger"). In the case of the name "Haikun", the word "Kun" in addition to "Hai" is taken from the chapter "Xiaoyoyu" in the work of ancient Chinese literature "Chuang Tzu": "During the Northern Ming dynasty, there lived a fish, and its name was Kun. The kun was so great that I do not know how many thousands of li it was. She turned into a bird and was nicknamed Pen." The words "Kunhai" and "Kundao" are also ancient poetic names of ancient Taiwan. Finally, this combination of hieroglyphs is one of the designations of the narwhal, and in official Taiwanese English-language publications the boat is sometimes referred to as Narwhal.
Taiwan has not been able to purchase submarines abroad for a long time, as a result of which the island's submarine forces have only two large Chien Lung-type diesel-electric submarines built in the 1980s, as well as two completely antique former American submarines of the Tench and Balao types built in 1945-1946 (of which one is in reserve). In 2001, then US President George W. Bush included the supply of eight non-nuclear submarines in the package of military equipment sales to Taiwan, however, due to political and economic obstacles on both sides, the supply of submarines for Taiwan (from the US or a third country) it was never implemented. It should be recalled that the American industry has not built non-nuclear submarines since the 1950s, and the US Navy has traditionally prevented American companies from possibly designing and building non-nuclear submarines for export, fearing the leakage abroad of critical technologies of American submarine shipbuilding.
In 2016, as part of the long-term 23-year military shipbuilding program adopted by the Ministry of National Defense of the Republic of China, it was finally decided to implement the Indigenous Defense Submarine (IDS) program for the independent development and construction of eight large non-nuclear submarines for the Taiwan Navy. In March 2017, the Zhongshan (Sun-Yat-sen) Institute of Science and Technology (Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology, CSIST - the main research and development organization of the Bureau of Armaments of the Ministry of National Defense of the Republic of China) and the leading Taiwanese shipbuilding corporation CSBC signed an agreement on the joint development by 2020 of the technical project of the submarine boats for the Taiwan Navy. Earlier in August 2016, CSBC Corporation created a specialized design bureau for this purpose.
For the construction of submarines at the CSBC shipyard in Kaohsiung, a special production complex Haichang Building was built with state funding for a year and a half, commissioned on November 24, 2020.
The IDS program is carried out in Taiwan in great secrecy and no characteristics of the submarine were disclosed. The design of the submarine was carried out jointly by the CSIST Institute and CSBC with the close assistance of British and American companies. It is believed that the main role was played by British developers acting through a shell company Gavron Limited registered in Gibraltar, which in 2018 received a contract for the role of general consultant for the IDS program. In April 2018, the US State Department issued a special permit allowing American companies to assist in the development and design of submarines for the Taiwan Navy, including technology transfer. It was also reported about assistance in the design of the Taiwanese submarine from the South Korean corporations Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME) and Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI), which also received special permission from the South Korean government in 2018.
The design appearance of the Taiwanese submarine of the IDS program evolved during the development process, and if the early models showed similarities with the Dutch prototype of the Chien Lung type, with the reverse engineering of which the program quite naturally began, then (from 2019) the models and renderings showed significant differences, including a modified hull shape, the presence of X-shaped rudders and low elongated fencing of extendable devices - it is known that this version of the boat project was designated as 3.05. The final version of the project, according to which construction was carried out, was already designated 4.0.
The standard surface displacement of the Hai Kung boat is now estimated at 2500 tons, and the length is 70 meters. The boat is equipped with a diesel-electric power plant, the main part of which is presumably supplied by American companies. As stated in Taiwan, boats of this type will receive "highly efficient batteries designed and manufactured by domestic manufacturers," which apparently implies the use of lithium-ion batteries. It is known that the boats should be armed with American 533 mm Mk 48 Mod 6AT torpedoes (already purchased by Taiwan in 2021 for Chien Lung type boats), launched from torpedo tubes by Boeing UGM-84L Harpoon Block II anti-ship missiles, as well as Taiwanese-made mines.
The boat's control system was supplied by Lockheed Martin, the sonar system (with bow and on-board conformal antennas) was supplied by RTX (Raytheon), and integrated extendable devices (masts with periscopes and radio equipment), radio equipment, and communication and navigation systems, as well as ship automation are supplied by L3Harris Corporation. In December 2020- February 2021, the US government gave permission to export these systems to Taiwan. The boat is equipped with a complex of passive anti-torpedo protection developed by CSIST with firing traps and jamming charges. Officially, the share of the cost of local production in the lead boat is indicated at 40%.
The first diesel-electric submarine of Taiwanese construction SS 711 Hai Kung at the naming and launching ceremony at the enterprise of the Taiwan Shipbuilding Corporation CSBC in Kaohsiung, 09/28/2023 (c) www.cna.com.tw and the Taiwan Navy
Video:
