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[text/observer.com wang shichun] according to a report by taiwan united news network on september 1, taiwan’s defense department confirmed to the media on august 31 that taiwan’s first self-made submarine, the haikun, could not be closed after the ship was delivered in the third quarter of 2025 as originally scheduled, and would need to be extended for another four years to be closed in 2029. at the same time, the closing date of the first batch of mk-48 mod6 at long-range heavy torpedoes (24 combat torpedoes and 4 training torpedoes) purchased from the united states by the taiwan navy to match the haikun-class submarines was also postponed from 2028 to 2030.

the "haikun", which was launched in july this year, claimed to have installed an electro-optical periscope mast, but there were no obvious appearance features to confirm the social media

the taiwan military stated that although the "haikun" will be delivered to the taiwan navy at the latest in the third quarter of 2025, as for the reason for the delay, the taiwan military said that the ship still needs to serve as a test ship to complete "system optimization, configuration adjustment, and weapon system testing tasks" as an important basis for the subsequent construction of submarines in batches. therefore, the suggestion to postpone the closure was put forward by the taiwan navy command, and the taiwan regional defense department agreed to the suggestion on july 17.

taiwan military officials further stated that the "us-made long-range submarine-launched heavy torpedo" procurement project, which was originally scheduled to be completed in 2028, planned to purchase 24 combat torpedoes and 4 training torpedoes, and will also be postponed for two years to 2030. however, the total amount of the heavy torpedo project remains at nt$5.46 billion (approximately rmb 1.2 billion) and has not changed.

it is worth mentioning that the taiwan military's "not closing the case" does not mean "not entering the fleet". previously, huang shuguang, the person in charge of the "haikun" submarine project, revealed at an internal meeting that he personally hoped that, with the addition of two active jianlong-class submarines, the taiwan navy would have three submarines in service by 2025 and four by 2027. this means that the taiwan military originally planned to put the second "haikun" submarine into service before 2027.

last september, the taiwan authorities held a launching ceremony for its first "self-made submarine", and disclosed its hull number 711 and the name of the submarine "haikun".

despite the delay, the taiwan military has still allocated a large budget for subsequent "haikun" type submarines.

recently, the taiwan regional administration announced the "general budget" for the next year, and more details of the taiwan military's self-made submarine plan were exposed, causing widespread discussion. according to taiwan's united daily news, after taiwan's first self-made submarine "haikun" was launched last year, from 2025 to 2038, the taiwan authorities are preparing to build seven submarines of the same type in three batches in the form of "3+2+2", with a total budget of nt$284 billion (about rmb 62.96 billion).

regarding this one-time huge amount of money to build seven submarines, people on the island of taiwan expressed their disagreement when interviewed by taiwan's central news agency. su ziyun, a researcher at the taiwan national defense and security research institute, said that it was normal to build so many submarines in 14 years, and that the united states also purchased the constellation-class frigates in a similar way.

however, jie zhong, a researcher at the taiwan "chinese strategic foresight association", said that the speed of building seven submarines in 14 years is not slow, but it is not advisable to allocate a huge budget with a long cycle when the "haikun" has not yet been tested and the mass production plan has not yet been finalized, which will lead to a lack of "precision" in the plan.

some taiwanese media said that even if the "haikun" is completed on schedule and meets the needs of the taiwan military, the actual budget of the entire plan will inevitably rise due to factors such as subsequent design changes, system performance improvements, and rising material prices. by then, the project will have to continue to move forward because a large amount of funds have been invested in advance, and it may fall into a quagmire of being too big to be eliminated.

regarding the taiwan military's self-made submarines, the spokesperson for the ministry of national defense, zhang xiaogang, said that the dpp authorities' "using force to seek independence" is completely a dead end. no matter how many weapons they build or how many equipment they buy, it is all a waste of money and a window dressing. if the "haikun" is used to "use force to seek independence", it will sooner or later be caught in the net of the people's liberation army.