TAIPEI: Taiwan completed the maiden underwater sea trial for its first domestically developed submarine on Thursday (Jan 29), a big milestone in a project aimed at strengthening deterrence against the Chinese navy and protecting vital sea lanes in the event of war.
Taiwan, which China claims as its own territory, has made the indigenous submarine programme a key part of an ambitious project to modernise its armed forces as Beijing stages almost daily military exercises to assert its sovereignty claims.
The submarine programme has drawn on expertise and technology from several countries, including the United States and Britain, a breakthrough for diplomatically isolated Taiwan, whose government rejects Beijing’s territorial claims.
Taiwan’s CSBC, which is leading the construction of what is eventually planned to be eight submarines, said in a statement late on Thursday that the first ship, named the Narwhal, had completed its first underwater test at sea.
It said the submarine had carried out a “shallow-water submerged navigation test”.
“Submarines are a key strategic capability with deterrent power,” it said, after the test off the southern Taiwanese port of Kaohsiung.
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/east-asia/taiwan-completes-first-undersea-trial-submarine-narwhal-5895301
