On September 28, the Republic of China Navy (ROCN) christened the first Indigenous Defense Submarine (IDS), the future ROCS Hai Kung (SS-711). According to the official explanation, while “Hai” refers to “Sea”, “Kung” refers to the island of Taiwan in an elegant way. It also has the meanings of “big”, “stealthy” and “unpredictable”, a perfect name for a new class of attack submarine.
Currently, the ROCN operates a fleet of 4 submarines, which consists of a pair of Hai Lung-class and a pair of Hai Shih class submarines. The 2 Hai Lung-class submarines were built in the 80s by the Netherlands and are considered as the primary backbone of the ROCN’s undersea warfare capability; meanwhile, the 2 Hai Shih-class are a pair of World War II US Navy subs which received the GUPPY II (Greater Underwater Propulsive Power Program) upgrades before commissioned as ROCN vessels in the 70s. In addition, the ROCS Hai Shih (SS-791) is currently the oldest operating submarine in the world with close to 80 years of service. To modernize the submarine fleet, the ROCN pushed to go ahead with the IDS program in 2016.
Hai Kung began her construction in CSBC’s Kaohsiung shipyard on 24th November, 2020. As part of the “Domestic Ship, Domestically Built” policy, Taiwan was trying to establish a domestic submarine industry to satisfy the ROCN’s operational needs as well as securing the necessary capabilities and know-how to build domestic submarines. In the future, Hai Kung will serve as a prototype ship for her class, with up to 7 possible follow-on ships in the future.
At first glance, the Hai Kung’s configuration appears to be an evolution of the Dutch Walrus class with a hybrid single / double hull, and some notable common features such as the X rudder. She features 6 torpedo tubes which were covered by the flag and banners, unseen by the public during the christening ceremony.
Foreign equipment aboard Indigenous Defense Submarine
Although a domestic submarine, most of the major mission-critical systems and subsystems of the IDS are provided by numerous foreign contractors with long and solid experience in the submarine industry. In this year‘s Taipei Aerospace & Defense Technology Exhibition, the sales representative from L3 Harris mentioned that the company is providing the IDS program with multiple products. As a critical US and international submarine Mast Raising Equipment provider, systems such as Optronics, ESM, Radar and communication masts could be found on the IDS, along with Integrated Communication System and Integrated Platform Management System, etc.
As for the most important undersea warfare tool of a submarine, RTX (then-raytheon)’s Spherical Sonar System and other unspecified sonar arrays based around the company’s Modular Scalable Sonar System (MS3) architecture were integrated into the IDS design. However, according to some sources, the IDS, at least for the prototype, will not feature a Towed Array as the Taiwanese were concerned that including such system might force the design team to greatly modify the whole existing design, so it was rejected from the final design.
Originally, the IDS would feature a license-produced ZOKA Torpedo Countermeasure System from ASELSAN, a Turkish defense contractor; however, as the Turkish government was tied by political factors, this plan didn’t go forward. Instead, after analyzing the ZOKA system, the National Chung-Shan Institute of Science & Technology was able to develop a domestic Torpedo Countermeasure System and integrating it into the IDS with two 6 shot canisters mounted on each side of the submarine, enabling the IDS to counter active and passive homing torpedos with soft kill capability.
What’s next?
Hai Kung‘s harbor acceptance trials should take place on October 1st. Due to the fact that L3 Harris is still struggling with the production and supply chain issues caused by the COVID-19 pandemic which affected the Mast Raising Equipment’s production schedule, they should be delivered and installed on the Hai Kung by early next year, right before the submarine conducts her first sea trials in April. If all goes well, the first Taiwanese domestic submarine should be delivered to the Taiwanese navy before 2026.
