DEFENSE/Long-delayed 1st indigenous submarine 'on track' for 2026 delivery: CSBC

Kaohsiung, June 25 (CNA) Shipbuilder CSBC Corp., Taiwan, said Thursday that Taiwan's first domestically built submarine, the Narwhal, remains on track for delivery in the second half of this year, "despite political pressure from China."

The Narwhal's primary contractor has been accumulating daily fines since missing an initial November 2025 deadline for handing the submarine over to the Navy.

Speaking to the media following the shipbuilder's shareholders meeting, CSBC Chairman Chen Cheng-hung (陳政宏) said the submarine, also known as Hai Kun (海鯤) in Chinese, has not encountered any major technical obstacles during sea trials.

The vessel is currently undergoing detailed fine-tuning and functional verification, he said.

CSBC still aims to complete testing and deliver the submarine to the Navy later this year, Chen said.

While the seasonal monsoon and upcoming typhoon season could cause minor delays of a few days, Chen noted they are not expected to significantly derail the overall schedule.

Describing the indigenous submarine program as a highly complex defense R&D project, Chen said that it is fundamentally different from building standard commercial ships or surface warships.

Because Taiwan had no prior experience building submarines, it had to build its expertise in design, systems integration, and sea testing completely from scratch, which naturally introduces timeline uncertainties, Chen said.

One of the biggest challenges has been procuring critical equipment within a highly sensitive international supply chain, he said.

China's suppression of the indigenous submarine program "has always existed," Chen said, adding that even after contracts were signed, payments made and equipment manufactured, deliveries could still be halted at the last minute because of political pressure from Beijing.

Chen claimed that there had been instances in which international partner components already packed in boxes and ready for shipment were suddenly blocked from export.

Beyond external pressure, integrating the submarine's internal systems has also posed a major challenge, Chen said.

While individual components may function normally on their own, performance issues can emerge when they are combined, requiring repeated adjustments and testing, he said.

At the shareholders' meeting, CSBC reported 2025 consolidated revenue of NT$21.78 billion (US$684.5 million) and a net loss of NT$2.27 billion, an improvement of NT$521 million from the previous year.

The company attributed the loss mainly to NT$674 million in foreign-exchange losses resulting from the Taiwan dollar's appreciation against the U.S. dollar, as well as provisions for loss-making contracts, increased warranty expenses and shipbuilding delays earlier in the year.

However, following adjustments to its corporate strategy and an accelerated pace for commercial vessels and follow-on submarine contracts in the latter half of the year, CSBC announced it has successfully turned a profit for two consecutive quarters.