DEFENSE/MND rejects report about submarine prototype testing delay

Taipei, Feb. 26 (CNA) Taiwan's Navy Command has rejected a media report that it is likely to miss the scheduled April 2025 timeline to begin sea acceptance tests (SAT) for the country's indigenous defense submarine (IDS) prototype.

The IDS prototype, named the Narwhal, or "Hai Kun" in Chinese, is currently undergoing harbor acceptance tests (HAT), which must be completed before an SAT can commence.

The Chinese-language online news outlet Up Media reported on Feb. 23 that a land-based external power supply used for the submarine prototype's HAT was hit by unexpected voltage fluctuations, causing the failure of an unexpectedly high number of parts in the submarine.

According to the Up Media report, the lead-acid batteries that the Navy has ordered for the Narwhal will only be installed after the boat passes the HAT, so the submarine is currently being run on the external power supply for the tests.

The high number of part failures has led to a shortage of parts and components in the prototype, which will likely delay the HAT and lead to the Navy missing its projected April start date for the SAT, the Up Media report said.

Navy Chief of Staff Chiu Chun-jung (邱俊榮) said at a legislative hearing in November 2024 that an SAT for the boat would take place from April 1 to Sept. 30, 2025.

In a statement Tuesday, the Navy Command rejected claims that there had been an issue with the voltage, saying that the test was being conducted with a voltage stabilizer.

It said it was normal for the prototype's parts and components to be replaced during the test due to expected wear and tear, implying that components have failed without saying whether there were any shortages that might affect the testing schedule.

The MND said the HAT is on schedule and an SAT will proceed as planned in April.

The indigenous submarine program has faced delays, however, despite MND pledges.

Three days prior to the unveiling of the prototype at a photo op attended by then President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) in September 2023, Huang Shu-kuang (黃曙光), convener of the IDS program, said the prototype would undergo a harbor acceptance test beginning on Oct. 1, 2023.

That would be followed by a sea acceptance test, and the submarine would hopefully be delivered to the Navy before the end of 2024, Huang said.

At some point last year, that schedule was apparently pushed back by about a year.

Given that timing, and the MND's acknowledgement in September 2024 that the Narwhal had failed more than 10 categories of the HAT, the opposition Kuomintang (KMT) and Taiwan People's Party (TPP) took aim at the submarine's budget in January.

Lawmakers from the two parties voted to freeze NT$2 billion (US$60.96 million) of the funding proposed for fiscal year 2025 for the IDS program, or about half of the proposed total, with the proviso that the funds could only be unfrozen after the Narwhal passes the SAT.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, CSBC Corp, the program's contractor, said the Narwhal will be delivered to the Navy in November this year as scheduled.