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Taiwan aims to build eight submarines

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Programme has received help from United States, Britain

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Taiwan's armed forces massively outnumbered by China's

By Ben Blanchard

TAIPEI, June 17 (Reuters) -

Taiwan completed the maiden sea trial for its first

domestically developed submarine on Tuesday, a major step 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.

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 Corp, which is leading construction

of what is eventually planned to be eight submarines, said in a

statement that the first ship, named the Narwhal, had completed

its first test at sea, proving systems including propulsion,

ventilation and radar.

"CSBC will continue to make adjustments and improvements to

the systems based on the test results," it said in a statement,

showing pictures of the submarine sailing above water off the

southern Taiwanese port of Kaohsiung.

Underwater tests will follow, with the depth gradually

increased, the company added.

The Narwhal had been due to be delivered to the navy last

year, joining two existing submarines purchased from the

Netherlands in the 1980s, but the programme has been hit with

delays.

Taiwan has said it hopes to deploy at least two such

domestically developed submarines by 2027, and possibly equip

later models with missiles.

The first submarine, with a price tag of T$49.36 billion

($1.67 billion), will use a combat system by Lockheed Martin

Corp ( LMT ) and carry U.S.-made Mark 48 heavyweight torpedoes.

Taiwan's armed forces are dwarfed by those of China, which

has two operational aircraft carriers and ballistic missile

submarines and is developing stealth fighter jets.

Taiwan is modernisising its military to be able to fight

"asymmetric warfare," using mobile and agile systems like

submarines, drones and truck-mounted missiles to fend off its

much-larger adversary China.

($1 = 29.5280 Taiwan dollars)